beer_name: Barleywine Style Ale
text: Chilled bomber into a glass. 2008 vintage. Both the glass and the beer courtesy of alfrantzell. Thanks Arne. A: Pours a murky mahogany color with ruby tint when held to the light. The head is a couple of fingers' worth of light brown foam, which falls over a couple of minutes into a very thin collar around the brew and leaves faint strands of lacing down the glass. The second pour results in more lacing and leaves a clump of foam that lasts indefinitely on top of the brew, which looks quite nice... S: Big on caramel, toffee malt, and dark fruit, but it's also very hop forward with a strong citrus bent to it. Definitely some booze sting in there. T: The dark fruit character really blossoms in the initial taste. I pick up elements of cherry and raisin on top of a thick toffee and caramel malt base. The sweetness pulls into the mid-taste, but you get a dose of contrasting orange rind and grapefruit hops coming into play, as well as pine hops near the finish. The finish is mostly malty, but there is a twinge of alcohol warmth and lingering hop bitterness in the aftertaste. M: Sticky and sap-like, but medium-bodied with moderate carbonation. You can feel and sort of taste the ABV though. D: I'd say it's about middling when fresh. A bomber is kind of a bad idea alone and fresh, but I'd certainly enjoy having this again after aging it to let it cool off.