Griffin's Bow - Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams)

Pahn

New York

2.28/5  rDev -35.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 1.5

22oz bottle into Duvel tulip. Figured it was time to try this before it's gone from stores, especially since I've been on a bit of a barrel aged barleywine kick as of late.

Special note: this beer's name is hilarious. "Griffin's Bow"? What the fuck? The youtube video with Jim Koch explains that they were impressed with the power of the old timey mythical animal, the griffin... but what about the bow??

Appearance: Free pour yields a one inch head that dissipates slowly, leaving thick but ultimately not lasting lacing. Pours a clear orange and leaves a few small spots of lacing.

Smell: From the bottle: yup, Nelson Sauvin hops as advertised. Smells a lot like Anchor Humming Ale, a similarly Nelson Sauvin-forward beer (and an excellent one). In the glass: Same thing. Pungent peach and pineapple. All hops.

Taste: Lots of alcohol, some fruit flavors, and lots of sickly sweetness. Amazingly too hot, too bitter, and too sweet at the same time. Don't find that every day.

Each sip starts with a lot of tropical fruity hop flavor, moving to a blast of bitterness, then ending with unrelenting, overwhelming sweetness (and a building, chest-consuming alcohol heat). The oak is not very present in the flavor, though it eventually comes out to impart some sponge cake character onto the disgusting sweetness (it fails to save the day though).

This beer reminds me that Nelson Sauvin can impart a sort of musty / funky flavor like the smell of molding fruit. Somehow the alcohol and mild oak influence are accentuating this aspect, which is unfortunate.

There's a fair amount of flavor underneath the dialed up bitterness, heat, and awful sweetness... but it's not worth suffering through the shit. Summary: like eating overly sugared dried pineapple dipped in honey, but bitter.

Mouthfeel: Full side of medium bodied. Moderate carbonation. Creamy, sugary, hot. Wish they pulled some Utopias magic and fermented off a lot more of this sugar.

Overall: I love a good barleywine, English or American. I'm considering pouring the rest of this beer into the toilet.

Serving type: bottle

12-17-2011 01:55:53 | More by Pahn

JDizzle

Indiana

3.25/5  rDev -7.7%

05-23-2013 21:34:33 | More by JDizzle

seplo

Connecticut

3.25/5  rDev -7.7%

05-21-2013 00:26:46 | More by seplo

Herky21

Iowa

2.25/5  rDev -36.1%

05-20-2013 03:17:48 | More by Herky21

Iamstryker

New Jersey

3.5/5  rDev -0.6%

05-16-2013 22:17:19 | More by Iamstryker

Dave7500kl

Massachusetts

4.25/5  rDev +20.7%

05-15-2013 00:38:28 | More by Dave7500kl

drummermattie02

Texas

4/5  rDev +13.6%

05-14-2013 17:04:02 | More by drummermattie02

carterbt

Virginia

3.75/5  rDev +6.5%

05-14-2013 03:14:55 | More by carterbt

BeerLover99

New Jersey

2.5/5  rDev -29%

05-12-2013 21:12:33 | More by BeerLover99

Spiderbeerman

New York

4.94/5  rDev +40.3%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

My brother-in-law had a bottle at a party he was hosting. I usually don't go for barley wine and like a product with a little less alcohol content but Griffin's Bow was a pleasant surprise. It was smooth and didn't taste like it was strong. I would certainly buy this myself and will enjoy every drop!.

Serving type: bottle

05-11-2013 04:58:38 | More by Spiderbeerman

McBraniel

Virginia

2.75/5  rDev -21.9%

05-02-2013 03:43:35 | More by McBraniel

rhoadsrage

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +27.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

(Served in a snifter)
Batch #2
A- This beer pours a slightly dense woody brown body with a bubbly sticky head of light beige that hung on the glass after each sip. There was a slow motion carbonation pushing to the surface.

S- The green grassy hops have a cream aroma to follow with some fresh raw oak aroma and a slightly sweet malt aroma that grows and grows as it opens.

T- The green grapefruit hops blend with a creamy rich malt flavor that has some buttery character that turns a bit more coconut like as it opens. There is a raw oak finish with some caramel malt sweetness and a sweet flower taste with honey hints. The gentle grassy bitterness of hops lingers cutting the malt flavor very nicely.

M- The medium mouthfeel has a gentle prick of fizz and no real alcohol heat noticed.

O- This beer has lots of nice complexity that is a bit subtle but really grows as does the richness of malt flavor. The green fresh oak blends really nicely with the hops and pale malt flavor. Very good sipper.

Serving type: bottle

04-30-2013 16:25:23 | More by rhoadsrage

FliryVorru

Alabama

3.5/5  rDev -0.6%

04-29-2013 17:53:13 | More by FliryVorru

cowboy83

New York

4.25/5  rDev +20.7%

04-26-2013 15:29:02 | More by cowboy83

poisonpythons

Massachusetts

3.75/5  rDev +6.5%

04-26-2013 00:39:22 | More by poisonpythons

JHurley

Alabama

2.75/5  rDev -21.9%

04-21-2013 02:19:02 | More by JHurley

Beer4Mike

Minnesota

2.5/5  rDev -29%

04-18-2013 21:42:01 | More by Beer4Mike

086InferiorWisdom

New York

4.25/5  rDev +20.7%

04-14-2013 00:56:06 | More by 086InferiorWisdom

AlkaholTester

Nevada

3/5  rDev -14.8%

04-12-2013 07:41:38 | More by AlkaholTester

David1492

Iowa

3.75/5  rDev +6.5%

04-09-2013 20:32:57 | More by David1492

Resuin

Massachusetts

3.75/5  rDev +6.5%

04-04-2013 23:48:17 | More by Resuin

Skarod

Maine

3.25/5  rDev -7.7%

04-03-2013 08:09:16 | More by Skarod

jahbulon

New York

3.75/5  rDev +6.5%

04-01-2013 06:57:19 | More by jahbulon

Broden

California

4.5/5  rDev +27.8%

04-01-2013 04:52:17 | More by Broden

lauries444

New Jersey

1.75/5  rDev -50.3%

03-30-2013 00:03:31 | More by lauries444