Sasquatch - Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant

Fish113d

Pennsylvania

4.01/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Poured from a bottle into a tulip, it pours a mahogany color w/ ruby hues throughout a slightly hazy body. A lacy tan, condensed head forms on top to about 2 fingers thick, but dissipates to a surface layer leaving some traces of it on the glass.

I first get the scent of caramel on the nose, quicly followed by an earthy chocolate malt maybe and some big floral hops. Very clean smell honestly.

Sipping reveals a medium-to-full bodied brew with some sweet malts up front along with a bunch of mild florals. the finish is of brown sugar and maple syrup. Very complex if you ask me. Maybe a twang of alcohol is there as well, but the 9.5% is hidden fairly well.

The balance of this beer is impeccable in my opinion. A bit dry, a bit buttery before the swallow, and a nice fairly full body. Very enjoyable especially w/ temps near 0 (F).

For $21, I was praying this was going to be as good as hoped, and it exceeded expectations. now, $21? I don't know if it's worth ALL THAT, but it IS GOOD! I'd pay $15 next time.

Serving type: bottle

02-18-2013 02:49:36 | More by Fish113d

JAXSON

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +3.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

2009 rate.

Bottle. Pours a dark orange-red with a thin soapy head. Aroma bursts with liqueur, piny hops, maraschino cherries, and other soft fruit tones. Flavor is at first a little at odds with itself, a definite bright, foresty pine element kind of clashes with a bit of darker, fruity malt. A bit spicy and exotic. I'm almost approaching this as an Imperial IPA with a high malt presence. Despite its oddity it is a very tasty package, though not nearly as glorious as their other Barleywine. Getting better as it warms...a really nice cherry pit flavor mingles with the pine-forest touches, very cool. Boozy but not hot. Could be more refined but it's a neat beer.

Serving type: bottle
@ Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, 1460 Bethlehem Pike, North Wales

11-16-2010 03:32:05 | More by JAXSON

akorsak

Pennsylvania

3.8/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

This is a corked and caged 750 mL bottle of Sasquatch.

A: The barleywine is a ruddy brown color, a caramel color that is dark enough to be opaque. The ale is laiden with sediment, especially the last pour. A foamy three finger white head contrasts nicely with the caramel color of the barleywine and leaves splotchy patches of lace.

S: The nose is malt-centric, syrupy and bready with pepper and brown sugar folded into the mix. The spicy profile could suggest a quad if not for the bold citrus hops.

T: The barleywine has a spiced flavor that could pass for some level of mulling. Brown sugar and cinnamon feature prominently, further blurring the line between barleywine and quad. Syrupy caramel malts create a sweet profile, with cocoa managing to come along for a ride. A firm citrus hop flavor near the end of the sip reminds me that this is a barleywine. A bigger sip packs a burn of alcohol and malt flavors, so smaller sips work better. A pretty good barleywine.

M: The mouthfeel is quite sweet, with a yeast-driven sweetness that nicely transitions into the full maltiness.

D: At almost 10%, this is not a chuggin' ale. I've been sipping on it for almost 3 hours and it's held up nicely.

Serving type: bottle
@ Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, 1460 Bethlehem Pike, North Wales

10-07-2010 11:55:22 | More by akorsak

BigMcLargeHuge

Arizona

3.9/5  rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Big thanks to RB's GMCC2181 for hooking me up with this 2004 vintage that pours hazy copper with thin tan head. The aroma is thick and yum with dark fruity richness of aged and blended dates, raisins, figs and prunes all rolling into molasses and smooth rich sweet malts. A big draw brings up some mild booze. The taste is smooth blended rich flavored yum. I get sweet malts, sugar stewed cherries and raisins, dates and plums to start. It then moves into notes of molasses mixing with a mild tingle of carbonation enhanced booze that thins things out a bit into the finish. It also becomes a touch dryer too as a note of mild roastiness comes to the surface.

Serving type: bottle
@ Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, 781 Harrisburg Pike, Lancaster

10-07-2009 14:15:02 | More by BigMcLargeHuge

ffejherb

Pennsylvania

3.05/5  rDev -21%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

750ml bottle into tulip on 6/17/09. Thanks to FooFaa for sharing!

A - Poured a hazy deep copper-colored body with rusty reddish highlights and more than a finger's width of creamy beige head that retained quite well and left a bit of lace around the rim of the glass.

S - Extremely sweet and malty nose with a hefty waft of caramel candy. Some earthy hops emerge in the back, as well as warm alcohol notes.

T - Flavor is a bit too sweet and light on the hops for an American-style barleywine, in my opinion. Sasquatch straddles the line between sweet and cloying. There is also a slight underlying plastic-like, band-aid quality to the flavor that is a little off-putting. A grainy malt character develops in the backend, masking the off flavors a bit. Finishes with a fair amount of earthy hop bitterness.

M - Sweet and syrupy on the palate with a very softly carbonated mouthfeel. Finish is somewhat bitter, but also quite astringent on the palate.

D - I was a little disappointed with this effort, overall. I've had a few of Iron Hill's bottle releases in the past, and this one did not live up to my expectations, unfortunately. With some fine tuning and more of a hop presence to quell the extreme sweetness, this could be a winner. "In Search of Sasquatch". That was a kick ass "In Search Of...". This Sasquatch? Not so much.

Serving type: bottle
@ Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, 781 Harrisburg Pike, Lancaster

06-18-2009 22:20:36 | More by ffejherb