Flying Mouflan
22 oz bottle into an oversized tulip glass. I actually popped this one for review on the day that it was released at the brewery, on 3/13/09, so I was dealing with an ultra fresh bottle at this point. Pours a deep, murky amber/almost brown/definitely a few shades from black, with 3+ fingers of stiff white foamy head. This simmers down into a thin layer of creamy retention that immediately blows up to almost a finger again when swirled, leaving just a mammouth cascade of foam back, which sticks in thick patches to the sides of the glass. The hop aroma on this ranks right up there, being just lush with floral notes, and spice, and resins, and tropical fruits. It's so fresh and assertive in the nose, it's one of thee best hoppy aromas out there. There is also a deep and thick smelling underlying sweetness of bread and chocolate, as well as some additional fruit tones. A stiff undercurrent of warmth glides underneath the other flavors, imparting just the slighest sting to the nostrils. Man, the taste evens out nicely as this warms. Big blast of hops right up front, which lingers with an intense resinous dryness. I'm loving the malt backbone, as it cuts down a bit on the big grains in lieu of thick chocolate, toffee, and toasted bread. A big flush of citrus pulls up the rear, mixing with the bitterness of the hops and residual malt tang. The mouthfeel is full bodied and creamy feeling with a good bit of heft to it. Fortunately, any real stinging holds off until the very end for the majority of this. For the most part, this was hugely quaffable for the size. This is definitely one of, if not thee best American Barleywine that I've had. I love the duality of this, either being able to enjoy it has a huge hop bomb fresh or putting some time on it and letting the complexity of the malts emerge. Either way it's a winner.