21st Amendment Lower de Boom Barleywine
Deep, mahogany color, rich malt candied, rock sugar flavors with sweet burnt currant and fig aromas. It’s strong alcohol content is tempered by a clean bitterness and complex flavors. This Barley Wine is named for Cornelius de Boom, the San Francisco Belgian Consulate General (1850 to 1851) and surprisingly the name of the alley along-side the 21st Amendment on 2nd Street.–
3.6
398 reviews
San Leandro, United States
Community reviews
Small can in Portland. Clearish red brown. Brandy and dessert wine. Sweet hoppy American barleywine. Pretty typical, solid, but a little cloying and anonymous. Bitter astringency. Alcohol well hidden. Solid.
Woody, malty aroma with barleywine sweetness. Medium orange/amber color with a wispy, finely laced white head. Good malt sugar and butterscotch sweetness balanced by an earthy bitterness with notes of green olives. Nice alcohol bite but it seems tame for 11.5%. Finishes a little hot with lasting sweetness and earthy, mushroomy bitterness. Nice English style barleywine.
250 ml can into tulip glass, canned on 12/17/2015. Pours slightly hazy reddish/orange/copper color with a 1 finger dense light khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Light spotty soapy lacing clings around the glass. Aromas of big grapefruit, tangerine, apricot, pineapple, citrus peel, raisin, plum, fig, leather, pine, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, toasted bread, and floral/grassy earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance and complexity of citrus/pine hops, fruity yeast, and dark/bready malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big grapefruit, tangerine, apricot, pineapple, citrus peel, raisin, plum, fig, pine, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, toasted bread, and floral/grassy earthiness. Moderate pine/citrus peel/grassy bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of grapefruit, tangerine, apricot, pineapple, raisin, plum, fig, leather, pine, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, toasted bread, and floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/pine hops, fruity yeast, and dark/bready malt flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance and zero astringent hop flavors after the finish. Light dryness from bitterness as well. Medium carbonation and full body; with a very smooth, moderately sticky/resinous, and creamy/slick balanced mouthfeel that is great. Alcohol is well hidden with only a light warmth lingering after the finish. Overall this is a very nice American Barleywine. All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/pine hops, fruity yeast, and dark/bready malt flavors; very smooth and easy to sip on for the ABV. A very enjoyable offering.
Poured a deep amber with a slight bit of head which was gone quickly.....aroma is pure barleywine, raisins, date, sweet malt.....taste follows the aroma with raisins, date, sweetness, slight bitterness, alcohol present but not overwhelming, tailing off into a bready, doughy aftertaste. Well done.
8.4 oz can at home on 17th June 2016 during a ’Random tasting evening’ with myself. Pourec carefully into an old ’Schossbrau Pils’ tulip glass, lovely looking brew. Clean and clear bodied beer, teak in colour, the head a small off-white affair. Alcoholic hue to the whole brew, the aroma although booze filled also has a rich malty nose with caramel and toffee esters. The taste was semi-sweet first with a mild hop bitterness within the flavours, complex and very drinkable. Went well with a few Cashew Nuts.
A very nice barleywine. Pours a deep Amber orange with little head. Smells of barleywine, vanilla, sea salt and maybe jalapeño. Taste is a bite up front, with lots of vanilla and caramel and hot pepper in the finish. Had in the can.
From notes. Enjoyed this one at the Brew Crew Bash in Ann Arbor on May 21. This one was poured from a tiny can. I think it’s 250 mL in size. The pour is a darker amber color with a pretty thick medium khaki colored head that falls down softly. The nose on this is a little abrasive. There is a strong toffee and sweet fruitiness to it. The malts are nicely present and it’s got a little bitterness that seems to be out of place. The flavor is pretty sugary and continuing of the sweetness. There is a lot of brown sugar and dark fruits. The toffee and malts really come through about half way through and it finishes pretty bitter. There is a pretty strong resin that isn’t overly present throughout the first half of this one. The mouth feel is a thin and watery, but it does carry a nice soft carbonation to help out with the viscosity. There is a little lingering spice on the aftertaste that is different, and helps break up the sweetness a bit. This one isn’t too bad.
Poured from the can into a tulip glass. The appearance is a cloudy dark amber with a medium sized off-white head. The aroma is malt with some vanilla. The taste is a thick sweet malt that quickly warms you from the alcohol.
Can at craig’s. Pours clear amber, nose is sweet toffee, caramel, light fruit, taste is similar.
Can at home... Dark copper.. Thin white lacing.. Soft sweet caramel toffee fruit nose... Soft sweet toffee.. Sweet caramel toffee fruit.. Sweet malts...
Can at Craigs. Pours clear amber with a thin white head. Aromas of syrup, peas, resin. Taste is orange, chalk, more green veg. Sticky finish.
Can. Clear cherry color with small off-white head. Sweet, caramel, alcohol and some cheese. Bitter, caramel, fruitcake, grainy taste. Grainy, bitter aftertaste. Medium to sort of sugary mouthfeel, medium high bitterness. Alcohol peppry bite on the tongue.
Deep amber with a rocky cream head. Caramel alcohol, sweet, sticky, and light dough. Chewy palate, sticky malts, dough, caramel, alcohol , bitter, rough finish
On tap at The Malted Barley. Pours a clear dark amber color. Aroma is of hops, booze, and malts. Bubbly and heavy palate. Flavor is of malts, oak, bourbon, hops, and booze. Leaves a hot hop and oak finish.
Pours a dark amber/copper color with foam that fades to nothing quickly. The aroma is sweet and strong. Honey and molasses on the nose and on the tongue. The flavor is very boozy and warm. The finish is a smooth, smokey, and sweet, with cloves and a small amount of pepper.
Can. Pours a dark brown purple color. Boozy taste with a hoppy wine taste. Sweet after dinner drink
Caramel and malty syrupy sweet aroma. Amber-copper color with white head. A balanced malty sweetness with a tongue-shrink-wrapping, tannin-like dry and hoppy counter flavor. Light bodied.
Dark copper color with a minimal beige head (eventually a small ring of small bubbles about the rim of the glass). Very much a barleywine scent. Nose of sweet toasted malt, fruit cake, toasted nuts and bit of alcohol. Sweet start, but not overly lasting. Orange peel and ripe fruit wander about. Bitterness kicks in, in the finish and linger. A light burn also starts to show up after a few sips. Strong rum fruitcake, or rum balls come to mind. 8.4 oz. is really about the right size for this style. The fruit, citrus and alcohol seem to work together. I’m thinking this will mellow out quite nicely and look forward to trying again in a few months or longer.
This is a little too sweet, but is otherwise a pretty tasty barley wine. A nice molasses flavor, though a bit strong in the finish.
Thanks Jeff! Pours a bright copper. Aromas are sweet and sugary. Vanilla, corn, caramel corn, some vinous aromas. Tastes like it smells. Sweet barleywine with a clean hop finish. Just the way I like my barleywine. Great stuff!
Type: 250-ml can (8.4 oz.)
Glass: Clear tumbler glass
From: Bine & Vine in Normal Heights (San Diego), Calif.
Price: $3.79
Purchased: Feb. 26, 2016
Consumed: March 12, 2016
Misc.: Canned on Dec. 17, 2015 at 6:03 p.m. PT
Not a huge fan of American Barleywines, so not expecting much from this. Kind of perplexed by the tiny cans, which I’ve seen recently in four-packs. Thinking a 22-oz. bomber would be better (and maybe more affordable).
Poured an auburn, amber, clear color with 1-2 fingers of off-white, rocky head. Some bubble streams coming up from the bottom of the glass. Poor spots of lacing on the sides of the glass. Minima retention. (Sight - 3.50)
Smelled toffee, caramel, Citra hops, brown sugar (kind of like Brown Shugga’), apple, slight hints of cinnamon and oak. Not smelling like 11.5 pct. (Smell - 3.75)
Taste pretty much followed the nose. Getting sugary caramel, toffee, toasted brown sugar, oak, Citra zest, woody pine, light grapefruit, hints of vanilla, bitter citrus rind and red apple. (Taste - 4.00)
Medium body. Oily-to-sticky texture. Average carbonation. Abrupt, boozy, somewhat oaky finish. (Feel - 4.00)
This was pretty good for the style and definitely better than I thought it was going to be. Would have it again for sure. (Overall - 4.00)
3.91 88 B+
Tiny can from 7 eleven in Kittery.
Pours a deep copper color with a decent sized off white head that persists. Big fruity caramel notes with a bit of alcohol presence. Strong tropical especially pineapple notes with lots of resinous pine hops. Sweet almost sticky mouth. Light carbonation. Decent brew.
8-oz can. Pours a murky dark amber with a dense little disc of tan mousse on top that disappears. Bright sweet caramel and floral/fruity hop notes on the nose. Creamy thick body, almost sticky. Caramel, treacle, shortbread, floral, and fruity notes on the mid palate. Amazingly not cloying, given that almost all the notes in the flavor profile are sugary sweet. Creamy sweet finish.
Pours a hazy mahogany color with a creamy off white head. Notes of brown sugar, fig, and a faint citrus. Toffee finish. Sweet mouthfeel but not overly done.
Small can. Clear brown pour. Toffee and caramel and some brown sugar. Hides ABV. Sweet.
Loved the small can…good for big abvbeers like this one. Overall, pretty nice barley wine. Bright citrus hops, toffee and vanilla taste, some apple in there as well. Surprisingly drinkable.
Tiny 8.4 oz can, served in a tulip glass (as an aside, this is the perfect size for a Barleywine, for that matter a big imperial IPA or stout as well, I’m quite surprised that other brewers haven’t jumped on this by now....). Pours clear bright amber with a decided reddish hue, very thin off-white head. Aroma is heavily sweet caramel malt, lightly roasty, slightly boozy on the finish. Taste is syrupy caramel malt, big flavor while still maintaining moderate mouthfeel. Oaky, roasty, and dry on the the finish. Very clean overall for a barleywine. Easy drinking for ~12%.
I was expecting more from this given the brewer. Kind of thin in flavor. Caramel, banana bread that’s light on the bananas, hop bitterness to balance. Not bad, just underwhelming for the style.
On tap. Pours a clear mahogany with moderate head. Aromas of pine and grapefruit. Flavors of pine and spruce, toasted malts and sweet malts. Really a thick syrupy IIPA. Ok by that standards.
Wow. Super smooth, ABV well hidden, and not as much hops as I expected at 92 IBUs. Delicious. Tasted at 55°F.