Hog Heaven Barley Wine - Avery Brewing Company

ChainGangGuy

Georgia

2.45/5  rDev -38.3%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Appearance: Pours out with a deep red hue, capped by an ivory head with moderate retention, though no lacing.

Smell: Grapefruit amidst a surging scent of hops and alcohol.

Taste: Astringent bitterness (without ever being flavorful) from start to finish, even harshly so, and with little to no malt base to balance it back out. The finish is caustically acidic and develops into a rather stinging aftertaste. I did not detect the "explosion of sweet malts" mentioned on the label. This brew is simply *crawling* with bitterness.

Listen, the denizens of the beer world won't beg for balance, we're above that. But look at what's happening here, folks! I, for one, long for the Salad Days that balanced beers provided.

Hint: this beer is really a Double IPA.

Avery Brewing Co. thought they could pull the wool over my eyes by calling this a barleywine, but I've shown them that they need to get up a *little* earlier in the morning if they wanna think about tricking me!

Mouthfeel: Medium, though a tad bit thin for a barleywine. Low carbonation.

Drinkability: Somewhere, one of the multitude of hopheads out there is nodding with satisfaction. "A job well done!" they may say.

However, I found this singularly one-dimensional beer to be unpleasantly unbalanced and disappointing for a barleywine (which I feel should display at least a modicum of balance and harmony within the fabulous potency of it's flavors).

This beer is a step in the wrong direction for Avery Brewing Co.

Serving type: bottle

01-22-2006 22:47:30 | More by ChainGangGuy

SocalKicks

California

4/5  rDev +0.8%

05-24-2013 06:43:43 | More by SocalKicks

mikeincharleston

South Carolina

3.5/5  rDev -11.8%

05-22-2013 01:23:00 | More by mikeincharleston

jgbiggs

Texas

4.5/5  rDev +13.4%

05-20-2013 22:06:26 | More by jgbiggs

jeffthepony

Georgia

4.5/5  rDev +13.4%

05-19-2013 02:42:48 | More by jeffthepony

jealmanzar

New York

4.25/5  rDev +7.1%

05-17-2013 16:17:39 | More by jealmanzar

ElizabethEleanor

Texas

4.5/5  rDev +13.4%

05-17-2013 03:12:53 | More by ElizabethEleanor

MinorThreat

Colorado

4/5  rDev +0.8%

05-16-2013 00:08:24 | More by MinorThreat

DarthGuitarHero

Minnesota

4.25/5  rDev +7.1%

05-15-2013 12:54:36 | More by DarthGuitarHero

h0ppster

District of Columbia

4/5  rDev +0.8%

05-14-2013 17:49:43 | More by h0ppster

Bonko_the_sane

North Carolina

3.75/5  rDev -5.5%

05-13-2013 16:46:47 | More by Bonko_the_sane

drummermattie02

Texas

4.25/5  rDev +7.1%

05-13-2013 14:23:46 | More by drummermattie02

twenty5

Pennsylvania

3.25/5  rDev -18.1%

05-10-2013 14:37:10 | More by twenty5

DaveAnderson

Minnesota

4/5  rDev +0.8%

05-07-2013 05:13:48 | More by DaveAnderson

Jordantb313

Colorado

3.75/5  rDev -5.5%

05-05-2013 02:46:11 | More by Jordantb313

DeezGunz14

California

3.75/5  rDev -5.5%

05-02-2013 04:07:56 | More by DeezGunz14

mcdsports

Texas

4.25/5  rDev +7.1%

04-28-2013 17:06:34 | More by mcdsports

Kelp

New Hampshire

3.75/5  rDev -5.5%

04-27-2013 20:17:30 | More by Kelp

rydev24

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +0.8%

04-27-2013 17:05:50 | More by rydev24

Jason1337

Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev +7.1%

04-26-2013 15:33:36 | More by Jason1337

AmitC

Indiana

4.51/5  rDev +13.6%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Poured from a 22 oz bomber.

Color is deep amber with ruby hues. Over three fingers thick off white colored head with excellent retention power. Awesome lacing on the sides. Very beautiful looking. Calm. Translucent.

Aroma is just beyond awesome. Strong hop flavors. Pine and resin hop character. Heavy malts. A lot of warmth and some alcohol is apparent. Strength is strong and powerful. Fills the nose with overwhelming intensity.

Taste is brilliant as well. Very good amount of bitterness provided by intense hops. Malt does a balancing act and provides the old ale flavor. Earthy and ground hop character. Piney and resiny feel is present in abundance as well. Finish is bitter. Bitterness is strong. One of the most bitter Barleywines or any ale for that matter, I have had.

Mouth feel is medium to full bodied. Oily character but with a much fuller body due to heavy malt content. Nice texture. Strong and powerful. A bit astringent.

One hell of a beer. This is a gem. Find it and drink it. You will love it if you like DIPAs, barleywines or hop forward beers.

Serving type: bottle

04-25-2013 15:01:06 | More by AmitC

n00blar

Maryland

4/5  rDev +0.8%

04-22-2013 22:45:53 | More by n00blar

Holmes698

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev -5.5%

04-21-2013 13:10:21 | More by Holmes698

outoffocus

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +0.8%

04-21-2013 13:09:48 | More by outoffocus

mkennedy119

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev -5.5%

04-21-2013 05:04:04 | More by mkennedy119