Cisco Baggywrinkle Barleywine

Barleywine is a style of ale known for its rich, sweet, chewy character. It has a very high original gravity, which means that the concentration of malt sugar in the wort is very dense as the beer is brewed. It is meant to be enjoyed with a friend (preferably on a cold night by a warm fire as the wind blows off the ocean outside...) and is particularly appropriate when served as a dessert libation. Enjoy!

Note: Formerly at 12%.

3.5

154 reviews

Nantucket, United States

Community reviews

3.6 Draft at Capones. Pours a cloudy gold with thin white head. Boozy citrus nose, with sweet caramel. Fairly smooth drink but a little hot.. Some nice hop flavors - citrus and pine, with a slightly bready finish

3.7 Bottle at The Others Tasting, London - many thanks to the man impressively devoid of baggy wrinkles himself, Ken. Pours goddy orange with a fine, white foam head. Some citrusy hops in the nose, rich bread and caramel. Big sweet flavor with earthy pine, caramel and ripe orange. Full bodied with fine to average carbonation. Lightly warming finish with some resinous pine, sweet bread, toasty sugars. Pretty nice, good hops in here. A standard well-hopped American barley wine.

3.4 Bottle @ THE Others Tasting. Cheers to Ken for bringing this along! The pour’s a disgusting renal failure brown color. Hazy, soupy. Unattractive. The nose is bright grassy hops, singed wood, caramel. The taste is spruce, resin, grass. A hoppy barleywine indeed. These flavors are supported by a rich caramel malt body. Hints of milk chocolate and plum. Full bodied, a bit hot on the finish. Overall, a pretty decent barleywine.

3.5 Bottle, thanks to Ken at THE others tasting. It pours cloudy amber/light-brown with a small off-white head. The nose is varnish, pine, orange, tangerine, candied peel and spice. The taste is varnish, wood, spice, resinous, caramel, pithy citrus, alcohol warmth, oak and leather with a bitter finish. Medium-full body and fine, prickly carboantion. Nice American barleywine.

2.9 22oz bottle poured into a snifter. -Appearance brown with a lingering brownish/white head about a quarter inch -smell was ok...fruity and pungent although my wife said it smelled repulsive/mold and she likes the smell of other barley wines -tasted fruity boozy but the after taste left a bit of acidic dryness and coated my mouth with molasses taste -overall I would probably avoid it as my go to barleywine (dogfish olde school and green flash are much better)

3.5 Bottle. Pours amber brown with an off white head. Nose of dried nuts, caramel, dark fruit, toffee and orange peel. Taste is mostly dried nuts and caramel toffee with some orange peel and hints of dark fruit, Finishes chewy fruitcake. Medium body.

4.1 My wife brought this one back from a trip to Rochester. +++ Sampled from a 22 oz brown bottle this beer poured a hazy orange-amber color with a huge creamy orange-white head that lingered forever and left good lacing. The aroma was orange peel, pine, molasses, licorice and pear. The flavor was sweet and bitter with strong elements of orange, lemon and pine and light notes of pineapple, pear, caramel, honey and ginger. The finish was long with mixed fruit and pine lingering. Full bodied and a bit syrupy. Well done.

3.8 22oz bottle in a snifter. Pours deep ruby/brown with a lacy, light beige head. Aroma of caramel and cereal, plus a little toast and chocolate from the malts, and a decent amount of hops for this beer. Flavor a good blend of everything. Smooth texture, but could be a little thicker. A pretty good barley wine.

3.9 (22oz bomber thanks to bu11zeye) clearish amber with an oily tan/copper head of bubbles. Nose of rich caramel, raisins, brown sugar, honey, and just the perfect amount of hops. Taste of honey, pine, caramel, sticky sweet, with a bitter and resinous linger on the palate. Really excellent palate linger, and great beer.

3.4 The aroma is caramel, brown sugar, cooked vegeatbles. The appearance is a hazy, murky red/brown, off white head. The flavor is caramel, brown sugar sweet, pine, vegeatble. The fnish is brown sugar, pine and resin hops. medium to medium/thick in body. Decent, not great. For a BW, it’s defintely mediocre.

3.5 (22oz bottle) Pours a lightly hazy amber body with a small off-white head. Aroma of caramel, cherry, bourbon, and bread. Flavor of caramel, bread, vanilla, toffee, and grass.

3.2 Bottle courtesy bu11zeye. Pours a clear amber orange color with a white ring of head. Aroma is heavy wood, dark fruit, brown sugar and spice. Flavor is a bit tart, woody notes, brown sugar and some sweetness. Dry finish, a bit bitter and woody.

3.6 bottle, thanks to bu11zeye, muddy orange brown color with a sweet buttery caramel aroma, flavor is sweet caramel, fig, thinner finish

2.5 Thanks to Drew for giving us this bottle. Served in a Bruery tulip. Color is a slightly-cloudy orange-copper color with a half-finger off-white head that fades almost immediately and has just a few bubbles around the edges. The nose has a bit of caramel and some slightly-sweet malt along with a bit of cherry. It’s a bit plain and I have to struggle a bit to really get into this one. The flavor is a lot of sweet malt, bordering on becoming a bit cloying. There are some cherry notes as well as toffee, stone fruits, and a bit of fig. There is a bit of strawberry, especially strawberry seeds. Some light alcohol is there as well. The body is medium with low carbonation. It seems a bit thin. I don’t find this to be terribly offensive, but it’s a pretty average brew and certainly doesn’t stand out in a crowded field. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 11-28-2010

3.2 22oz. Bottle (at 9%ABV per the Bottle): Aroma of malt, caramel, slight toffee, diacetyl, light Bourbon, slight vanilla, and zero hops. Poured brown with a hint of orange in color, and a small, creamy, dense, tan/beige head that diminished but lasted throughout as a film on top of the beer. Cloudy. Sparkling. Many large and medium-sized particles throughout. Flavor is medium sweet and slightly bitter. Tastes of malt, slight alcohol, slight coffee, light toffee, caramel, diacetyl, butter, wood, slight bourbon, slight hops, and a hint of vanilla. Kind of a mish-mash of flavors, and not well balanced. Medium to full body. Slightly tingly, then slightly viscous, and lightly dry texture. Average carbonation. Light Bourbon, malt, slight vanilla, diacetyl, butter, wood, and light hop finish is medium sweet and slightly bitter, as well as a little dry. 9%ABV is a bit present in the flavor, but generally well hidden. Flavor is off, unbalanced, and full of butter.

2.7 Thanks riversideak! Some wet dog, oxidized. Gummy with malt, brown sugar. Hazy cloudy caramel in the glass, sparse tan head. Stemmy hops, abrasive and a hint of tartness in the background, doesn’t come together, kind of messy.

2.8 Nose is tart and fruity, tangy, some pickle juice and hops. Pours copper, thin head. Tangy pickle juice, english barleywine sweetness. Tangy and off. Not my favorite.

2.7 22oz capped, different lable and listed as 9%...thanks riversideak. Lightly hazed caramel with small khaki head. Bready cramel apple nose. Murky thin body with not much carbonation. Tart, tobacco, cardboard, bitter...alex says pickle juice and that is spot on.

3.2 Original rating. 12/17/2010. 22oz Bottle - listed as 9%. Big aroma of malt, some cooked raisins, and a mess of hops. Pours a hazy dark and cloudy amber. There’s a lot of yeast swirling at the bottom of this one. Flavors are all over the map, but start with intensified malt sugars, plain, largely clean and not particularly complex. Then there’s a twang of acidity or sharpness, a la traditional British examples. Finishes with quite a bit of hops, that too me, come across as a already dusty and oxidized. In the end, too sweet and too old-tasting. Re-visit. 12/12/2012. On cask at Cask Republic, listed as Citry Dry-hopped. I’m not going to make another entry, because I’m not sure this warrants it. It is interesting to see Cisco wax and wane with the current brewing fads. The Woods series was pushed really hard in the midst of sour ale frenzy and I think, personally, most of them fell flat and were overpriced. Now as the new-wave hop realm hits, everyone imitating Hill Farmstead, we’ve got a different flavor of Cisco keeping up with the times. Mostly, I think they’ve managed to do a better job. It feels fad-y and a bit flash in the pan, but the flavors come out okay. I thought the Citra aroma wasn’t strong enough and in general I think this example of Barleywine lacks the malty depth required to make it a good version of the style. Warmth is well intergrated and there aren’t any major off-flavors, so this is enjoyable, especially on cask.

3.0 22 oz. bottle. Pours a muddy brown with a moderate off-white head that lasted through the first quarter of the glass and left partial lace. Pleasant aroma of caramel and malt along with some citrus. The flavor is caramel and sweet malt followed by some apple and a mild metallic flavor. The body is lacking and does not even closely have that rich, chewy mouthfeel I associate with the better barley wines. Mild-moderate bitterness at the finish. Disappointing.

3.8 My bottle says 9%. Different label too. This is a murky dark amber brew with a big frothy head and nice carbonation. Very thick and chewy body. Flavors are sweet and malty and sugar with spice and fruit hop balance. Characteristic Cisco yeast bottle condition. Tart and bitter finish.

3.4 From notes. Bottle 2215. Ugly murky brown. Disappearing white carbonation. Aged malt, maple syrup, stale gingerbread cookies, woodsy notes. Medium/full body, moderate carbonation.

3.6 750mL bottle, several years old (@ 8.8%). Poured thick, cloudy, peachy-golden with a creamy cap of beige head.. looked great! The aroma picked up tart fruity notes over caramel and toffee.. airy vanilla and dusty, banana-ey yeast accented.. a bit too sour for my liking, but not bad. The flavor opened with the same tart fruit skins that picked up metallic touches.. warm, grainy fruit sugars, caramel, and toffee at the core, with some molasses laced through.. tart, warm finish, with residual sugars masking most of the heat.. this got better as it warmed up. Medium-plus bodied with a thick dose of carbonation.. some age evident in the form of mild oxidation, but it worked well.. long, lingering finish with fruits and toffee. This was tasty, and I’d gladly try a fresher bottle.

3.5 Bottle at the Relentless Thirst Tasting on 08/29/2009. Clear caramel body with a small off-white head. Big caramel and hop aroma. Sweet sugar, caramel, rum soaked fruit and molasses flavor with a smooth bitter finish. Medium full body with moderately low carbonation.

3.9 Bottle: Cherrywood in color, somewhat a deep dark amber with a red hue, large sandy colored head, with nice lacing. The nose vaguely reminds me of the old Leviathan Barley Wine. Oh how I love that one. Sweet malty nose, slight citrus, a little bit of barrel aging, all blending well enough to make me excited enough to taste it. Oh man, quite the malty citrus laden Barley Wine that I enjoy. Good mouthfeel, a little viscous, certainly from the malts, with a fairly hefty body. Not as complex as a barrel aged Leviathan, but this one seriously reminds me of a lighter version of the that. This is my kind of Barley Wine. Malty, sweet, definitely citrusy, but also with a Oak like presense that lends itself well. It is very woody, a little edgy and raw. This one brings me back. I wish I had more of this one to sit down for a bit. Not all that hot, but thought that I would like to see how it is in a year. Big thanks for Brian for sending me this lovely brew.

3.8 bottle @Pauls Gathering-pours an off white ring for a head and hazy copper color. The bottle foamed over for 30 minutes. Aroma is sweet medium malt-toffee, medium fruit, some herbal hops. Taste is sweet medium malt-toffee/molasses, medium fruit, some herbal hops.

3.5 Thanks to corey0212 for sending this one along to me 22 oz Bottle poured into a DFH snifter produced a thin white head that faded to a space lace. The body of the brew was a clear amber/copper in color. I was sitting on this bottle for a while, so I get a nicely oxidized nose. Light hops and a sweet toffee note are also in the aroma. Surprisingly seeing that I know this is an aged bottle I get a lot of hops bitter in the flavor. Not to much in the way of alcohol flavor for its 9%. This is defiantly a bit thin in the mouthfeel department it needs to be a little thicker. Not a bad barleywine but this thing needs some more age for sure. I finished the bomber while watching the game. I guess that means the drinkability is OK.

3.8 22 oz bottle. Pours a hazy mahogany color with a small off white head. Aroma is malt, molasses and brown sugar. Nice thick, chewy palate with enough alcohol to warm your gut. Flavor is sweet brown sugar, bitter molasses and alcohol soaked fruit. Very nice.

3.6 Bottle shared at the Smoke from the Oak release. Pours a hazy amber brown with a thick white to tan head. Molasses and a little bit of hops on the nose. Medium thick bodied with a nice malty sweetness. Finishes with a little bit of an alcohol note.

3.2 kinda orangish color, some head not much, nose is sweet like molassis, wine cherries, and maybe some oak??? flavor is sweet with a nice citrus burst of hops at the finish.