Little Korkny Ale - Nørrebro Bryghus

froghop

Washington

4.25/5  rDev +9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

vintage 2006

pours a cloudy deep dark brown with an orange tint, small khaki head that leave quickly, and some lacing.

smell is of caramel, walnuts, dark fruit and molasses.

taste is creamy, caramel, fruit, touch of spice, malt, and some hops, a chewy ending that is a little bitter.

Serving type: bottle

12-20-2008 20:29:29 | More by froghop

DruRho

Maryland

4/5  rDev +2.6%

06-18-2013 00:27:33 | More by DruRho

GrindFatherBob

New York

3.5/5  rDev -10.3%

06-01-2013 22:15:31 | More by GrindFatherBob

TheRuss9585

Vermont

3.5/5  rDev -10.3%

05-23-2013 14:31:25 | More by TheRuss9585

chippo33

Vermont

3.25/5  rDev -16.7%

05-23-2013 02:07:38 | More by chippo33

StonedTrippin

Colorado

3.46/5  rDev -11.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25

2008 vintage. aside from the crème brule from southern tier, this is debatably the sweetest beer I have ever consumed. I have often been critical of American style barleywines for getting way too hoppy lately, but this puppy could use some balance. it pours a crimson to auburn color, dense and bubbly too, with a prominent off white head of two fingers, lasting for several minutes. the nose is really sweet, like straight up brown sugar. I smell some sweeter malts, maybe even a touch of dryer red malt, and honey. the first sip instantly coats my mouth and fills my stomach, this is diabetes juice. any woody, earthy, or malt subtleties are run out of town by the sweetness. im not even sure how they achieved such a high abv with so much sugar left over. it must have something nonfermentable in it, but hell if I can pick out what it is. the booze doesn't help things, and is the only other notable feature of this beer. there is a full body and surprisingly robust carbonation, but its way too late after my teeth are rotting out of my head here. overall there must be a crowd of people out there who like this kind of thing, and it is well made, but even a small glass of this is too much for me. not sure it fits the American barleywine bill particularly well either, but it may be worth a try if sugar high and wasted is your go to combination...

Serving type: bottle

05-07-2013 20:46:12 | More by StonedTrippin

tswater

Colorado

3.75/5  rDev -3.8%

04-28-2013 06:17:06 | More by tswater

spycow

Illinois

4/5  rDev +2.6%

04-27-2013 00:02:48 | More by spycow

CWhite

Wisconsin

4.75/5  rDev +21.8%

01-19-2013 00:00:27 | More by CWhite

westcoastbeerlvr

California

3.75/5  rDev -3.8%

01-08-2013 23:12:17 | More by westcoastbeerlvr

kscaldef

Oregon

4.25/5  rDev +9%

12-31-2012 00:49:10 | More by kscaldef

pixieskid

France

3.75/5  rDev -3.8%

12-16-2012 17:34:43 | More by pixieskid

t0rin0

California

3.5/5  rDev -10.3%

11-28-2012 05:50:53 | More by t0rin0

Florya

Norway

4.25/5  rDev +9%

09-07-2012 22:14:59 | More by Florya

Jsenay

Texas

4.03/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

2008 Vintage bottle served into snifter

A - Pours with a heavy effervescent bubbling into the glass with a dark amber almost brown color.

S - It has a volatile smell that is off rotten fruit when first poured out but, this dissipates into a sweet brandy, plums, muddled raisins, caramel, brown sugar.

T - Taste has raisins, sweet figs, plums, caramel, marshmallow, candi sugar and dark chocolate notes.

M - Not the syrupy mouth feel that I was expecting it to have. The carbonation helps keep it rolling along the palate instead of just clinging to the tongue. It warms the palate at the beginning and rolls into a lingering sweetness with a dry finish.

O - The carbonation made this beer very enjoyable. If it wasn't present this would be a tough beer to take down. Such heavy dark flavors would have destroyed the palate but, with the perky carbonation it helped keep the beer moving over the palate. This is a rather tasty and easy drinking barley wine.

Serving type: bottle

08-28-2012 21:43:25 | More by Jsenay

Polasiuss

Ireland

4/5  rDev +2.6%

08-25-2012 12:19:24 | More by Polasiuss

mulder1010

Australia

3.45/5  rDev -11.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Thanks to me for buying this. Damned high price tag though.
Good beer for a CBS tulip though.
I think a 2008 vintage.

A-- Poured a dark, murky orange brown color. Some nice ruby hues to this. Half finger of light brown head that fizzled away quickly to nothing. Looks like a flat coke really. No real obvious ABV legs. Press on with this I think.

S-- Brown sugar, carmel, brandy, figs and plumb. Good nose for what is there but not real deep though.

T-- Prickly carbonation to start. Just a bit of hop bite. White grape, brown sugar, fig, strawberry and plumb jam, rum and raisin. Slightly sweet and syrupy but not too bad.

M-- Slightly sweet, syrupy and sticky in the mid and back. As noted prickly carbonation in the front that slowly cuts through the sweetness and smooths it out. Has held up well for its age. More about strawberry and plum jam with brandy and rum in the mid and back. Lots of booze though.

O-- not too bad. Has held up well. Not a deep beer at all and that is OK. Good jammy notes and enough carbonation to keep it quite interesting and cut down the sweetness. Alcohol is very obvious at the halfway point. Think this can still age well for a while.

Serving type: bottle

07-10-2012 15:37:17 | More by mulder1010

StJamesGate

New York

3.65/5  rDev -6.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Viscous leather brown with ruby highlights and a cap of sienna foam that's gone in a flash due to the ABV, no doubt. Rich brandy booze notes with red berry, raisin, brown sugar and wood plus a touch of pine sap.
Raisin danish and strawberry compote, some dates and Concord grapes in the middle, and deep dried orange rind hops.
Spicy rum finish and bitter fruity linger. Medium to full, chewy, hot.

Labeled at 12%, I expect some serious depth of flavor, and it's not here. On the contrary, it's pretty flat. Fruity malts put this on the winey side of barleywine, but for being labeled American, it's lacking for hops.

I see the deviation for ratings on this is pretty wide; mark me among those who don't get the fuss.

Serving type: bottle

04-18-2012 22:09:29 | More by StJamesGate

jrenihan

Ontario (Canada)

3.93/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Beer is dark brown. Absolutely no head, even with a vigorous pour. Just fizzles away like a soft drink.

Big smell. Wood, dark fruits, caramel, brown sugar and a generous amount of booze.

Taste is quite similar to the nose. Raisin, fig, caramel, brown sugar, wood, alcohol. Fairly sweet- syurpy. Some alcohol heat. Quite good. Not sure how it was when bottled a year or so ago, but it is drinking well now.

Full bodied, moderate to high carbonation, syrupy. Sweetness dries the mouth somewhat.

Overall, a pretty good barleywine. Certainly the best of the Norrebro Bryghus offerings that the LCBO brought in last year.

Serving type: bottle

01-14-2012 20:07:46 | More by jrenihan

jophish17

Georgia

2/5  rDev -48.7%

01-01-2012 06:15:43 | More by jophish17

MishaEriksson

Finland

4/5  rDev +2.6%

12-28-2011 12:20:29 | More by MishaEriksson

JAHMUR

Connecticut

4.25/5  rDev +9%

11-25-2011 20:12:04 | More by JAHMUR

Rochefort10nh

New Hampshire

4/5  rDev +2.6%

11-18-2011 20:16:02 | More by Rochefort10nh

biegaman

Ontario (Canada)

3.58/5  rDev -8.2%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Little Korkny has a fairly dull and murky tone that is hardly worth noting, except that when held into the light it looks like Cassis. Otherwise, it miserably fails to arouse the senses. What's worse is pieces of suspended yeast look like slide samples from an entomologist's lab - that'll teach me for tempting fate with the last few ounces.

There is a slight unbalance in the nose pertaining to the ratio of malt to alcohol. I fully expect some (heck, even a fair bit of) booze in a 12% beer, but ester-y vapors outweigh sticky, rich malt. And since this is self-described as an "American interpretation" it's also fair to note the disproportionate amount of sticky, pine-y hops too.

Barleywines are known for their rich malt profiles. This one, however, has a malt profile that is more upper-middle class; it's wealthy, but I wouldn't call it rich. Its dark berry and grape-y fruitiness has a Madeira-like tone but not the sweetness or complexity of port. The hops have a leafy bitterness, something like tobacco or tomato leaf.

Barleywines should instill the sensation that what you're drinking is something special. This one, however, fails to do so. It is bitter without being gratifying; strong without being flavourful. The aftertaste isn't fruit bread or molasses (like the flavour) but a drying, insipid combination of chew tobacco, stale raisin and wet leather.

The brewery is lucky that 'value for the consumer' is not a graded category. The overall score would dip substantially. I am at a complete loss as far as imagining what in the world could have been put in or done to this beer to account for its $22 price tag. I wasn't expecting gold leaf lettering on the bottle, no, but a more than mediocre beer in it, yes.

A barleywine can work only in one way but can go wrong in many. This one failed in a few but it failed first and foremost in not having a character - and, specifically, a malt profile - that is stronger than its alcohol content. Nørrebro Bryghus is a really good brewery, but compared against the best American examples of the style, drinking this beer is like listening to Bach on the recorder. Save your money for more deserving offerings.

Serving type: bottle

10-19-2011 05:52:43 | More by biegaman

rarbring

Sweden

3.2/5  rDev -17.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

The beer is clouded dark brown, has a small off-white head with little lacing, but good curtains.

The smell is yeast, sherry, raisins. Some old sausage as well...

Tasting sweet, raisins, figs, sherry, port, old cheese.

Low carbonation, minimal bubbles, soft, sticky and oily, a slightly dry finish. You can somewhat feel the alcohol.

Well, not really singing to me, immature and a bit boozy. But I might be wrong, sometimes I have problems appreciating barleywines.

Serving type: bottle

05-24-2011 19:21:09 | More by rarbring