Clown Shoes Crunkle Sam

We brewed Crunkle Sam, an American Barleywine Ale dry hopped with Citra hops, to celebrate America. America, we love you: thank you for allowing Clown Shoes to set off a few fireworks in the craft beer world.

3.8

284 reviews

Boston, United States

Community reviews

3.9 Bottle. Dark reddish brown color, tanned head. Aroma has sweet malts, bread, some plums and cherry notes. Nice malty body, sweet, plums, cherry, some oaky notes. Actually pretty nice.

3.9 Ever so slightly hazy deep copper and amber coloured body with a thinnish, single centimetre tall off-white head. Aroma of pit fruits, alcohol, toffee, caramelised sugars, a lot of malt, some oak and vanilla and a bit of funk noticeable - but very strong throughout. Full-bodied; Deep dry, bitter malt flavours at first with a lot of alcohol and dry whiskey flavours along with some grain, peat, alcohol, yeast and a touch of caramel sweetness - pungent, but showing relatively well. Aftertaste is bitter, strong as hell and robust throughout. Overall, a good Barley Wine with a fairly complex and pungent profile that shows some, but not entirely, malty and smooth flavours that mellow out this beer. I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from Total Wine in Manassas, Virginia on 28-March-2015 for US$9,99 sampled at home in Washington on 06-May-2017.

3.4 Clear dark golden color with a fine frothy head. Good intensity in the aroma. Full body and a fine carbonation level. Sweet, but not to sweet. Oily texture. Dried fruits, toffee, bready and candy in the flavor. [Bottle from Systembolaget in Sweden]

3.7 How : bottle Appearance : almost clear deep copper with a small off-white head. Aroma : caramel, dried fruits, pine, citrus peel, herbs, floral, honey. Palate : medium body, average to low carbonation.

3.8 Dimmig-grumlig, brun-bärnstens färgad, litet khaki-orange färgat skum. Doft: Nötknäck, dajm, malt, kola, cornbread. Smak: Nötkola, knäck, alkohol, bräntsocker, malt, fruktsoda, råg, typiska amerikanska barley wine smaker.

4.0 Data ważności: 20. 07. 2018 Kolor: Miedziany, patrząc pod światło widać szereg rubinowych refleksów. Piwo jest klarowne. Piana: Żółta, drobno pęcherzykowa, dość nietrwała. Początek był obiecujący, jednak piana opadła do wąskiej otoczki. Na ściankach Sniftera wzorowy lacing. Piana otacza większą powierzchnię szkła. Zapach: Aromat jest umiarkowanie trwały. Na samym starcie do głosu dochodzą nuty słodkiego karmelu, dojrzałych owoców tropikalnych i odrobiny cukru trzcinowego. W tle nuty lasu, żywica z drzew iglastych i odrobina toffi. Smak: W smaku pełne, wyklejające usta, słodkie. Generalnie profil piwa jest wyraźnie słodowy. Bazę stanowi konkretna karmelowa podbudowa wsparta o nuty toffi i cukru trzcinowego. Jest też cała masa soczystych, mocno dojrzałych owoców tropikowych: mango, papai. Goryczka piwa jest średnio intensywna. Lekki żywiczne posmaki pozostają w ustach do samego finiszu. Faktura jest oleista, gęsta. 11% alkoholu nie wpływa na degustacje. Wysycenie: Średnie. Podsumowanie: Kolejny browar z JU ES EJ. Tym razem wybór padł na Clown Shoes z Ipswich, Massachusetts, USA. Jest tutaj wszystko co powinno być w ABW. W aromacie brakuje jedynie zdecydowanie intensywności. Smak natomiast broni się bardzo dobrze. Są nuty amerykańskiego chmielu (żywica, las), jest również solidna karmelowa podbudowa, odrobina toffi i dużo mocno dojrzałych owoców tropikalnych. Tekstura piwa jest oleista, matowa. Goryczka wyraźna. Całkiem spox. Dobry przedstawiciel stylu.

2.2 Bottle (355 ml) from Systembolaget. Clear amber with floaters, medium off-white head. Stale malt aroma, some piney hops, alcohol. Medium to full bodied, meidum carbonation. Semi drym hatsh bitterness.

3.5 From notes. Enjoyed at the 4th Annual Barleywine Tasting at Nicole’s house on January 28. 22 oz bottle. The pour on this one is a little weird. It’s a golden brown color with a thin white head that vanishes pretty quickly. The aroma is full of hops and light bitterness. It’s got a little caramel malt, come light brown sugar and a hint of dark fruits. I just can’t get passed the bitter hops. It’s just not my thing. The flavor is a little better. The hops are still prevalent, but they’re a little reserved. The caramel malts and light chocolate begin to come through a bit more with the fruit, but it’s a little messy and sharp. The mouth feel is lighter and well carbonated with a lingeringly bitter hop finish. This is okay for an American bareywine, but not what I’m looking for.

3.3 Gylden brun klar med fingerhøyt beige skum. Lukter lett brent karamell og noe floralsk lukt. Middels fylde. Søtlig lett bitter smak. Røde frukter og noe lett brent karamell.

3.6 Hazy chestnut color, beige head. Caramel nose, bread, yeast, apple syrup, nuts. Sweet malty taste, brown sugar, grass, earthy notes. Full body, soft carbonation, oily texture.

3.5 A: Red/brown coloured with a one finger red/white head. N: Boozy, liqourice, rye T: Sweet cookies, hint of hay, boozy O: Quite sharp nose to it, but a pleasant taste.

3.4 35.5cl bottle. hazy/deep golden color. golden color. dried fruits. average bitterness

3.7 On bottle from Vinmonopolet Norway , on order. Deep golden color, good foam. Medium high aroma intensity; hops, caramel, toffee. Medium body & complexity . Some immediate sweetness- good balancing bitterness. Very enjoyable

3.8 Pours murky copper with low off-white head. Aroma of nuts, caramel, toffee, dried fruit. Taste is rich sweet ul front followed by a boozy sweet finish... not super balanced, but nutty, caramel-y and yummy. Body is rich and creamy with soft carbonation.

3.9 Bottle, best before 19/10/2018. Pours amber reddish, light brown foam. Nose is sweet malty, some toffee or nutty like tones and some hoppy aromas pushing through. Taste is sweet dried fruits like plums, some hints of toffee, not much bitterness and a very well hidden alcohol. After a while the hoppiness can be felt. Nice complexity! A great winter sipper this one!

3.5 Bottle sourced from Systembolaget (Hansa) shared with the Mrs - pours dark orange to amber with off white head. Sweet malty aroma and taste with caramel and toffee sweetness, quite a heavy hoppy presence, some marmalade, dried fruit shred, sweet malty towards the close.

3.6 Bottle from systembolaget Sweden. Small but semi lasting beige head. Clowdy copper color. Piny hop aroma with some dark chocolate. Piny hop taste and caramell. Moderate bitterness.

3.4 Bottle from systembolaget. Pours a amber colour beer with a small head. Dried fruits especially dried plums with toffee and some malty notes. Dry finish

3.6 Bärnstensfärgad mot orange öl med ett gulvitt skum. Doft av malt, karamell, citrus och torkad frukt. Detsamma återkommer i smaken. Lätt förnimmelse av alkoholen.

4.2 355ml bottle. Amber-ish body with a medium white head. Toffee, tropical fruit, pine. Nice one.

3.8 Bottle from SB. Hazy orange with a small off white head. Fruity and malty tones. Fruit, malt, caramel and hops. Full body with a long bitter / fruity finish.

3.5 Bottle. 11.0%. Best before 20.07.18. Pours a deep, dark amber/brown, with a light tan head. Great lacing. Sweetish dark fruit aroma; raisins, plums. Malt in the background. Flavour is sweet with dark fruit; plums, and a spicy hint; somewhat cardamom-y, without actually being cardamom. Alcohol overtone. Finish is fruity bordering grainy, slightly tart and with a mild alcohol burn. Soft palate. Overall okay, but feels a bit unbalanced, also cloying in the long run. 24.10.16.

3.8 Bottle. Beown clear. Heavy malts, almost toffee, some herbs, pine, pine residue on nose. Full bodied, smooth, good bitters, almond cake, thick malty flavour. Clean, nice american barley wine. Good yeast esters, pine hops. Intensive, long. -- rated with beerbasher/winphone

3.6 Kopparfärgad med litet vit skum. Doftar och smakar russin, torkad frukt och karamellmalt. Ganska mycket beska

4.5 14.10.2016. 0,355l Bottle. Systembolaget. Dark brown colour with no head. Dark and unclear. Aroma of sweet dark malts. Burnt brown sugar and caramel. Body is rich with lots of alcohol and lots of malt flavours. The is also some good hopping that gives a very good sharp finish. There is notes of red fruits, liqorice and alcohol. Very strong. Sharp. Sweet. Very good.

3.8 Bottle from SB. Slight muddy dark mahogany/redish brown with a medium dirt white/yellowed head. Aroma is spun sugar, figs, grapefruit and toffee. Taste is caramel and grapefruit with fudge and alcohol. Big body with soft carbonation and oily texture. American indeed, but not the onslaught of hops as it usually is. But the malts are not giving that much complexity to weihg up.

3.7 Zapach intensywny, słód, karmel, toffi, suszone owoce, cytrusy, alkohol. Kolor bursztynowy, mętne. Piana średnio obfita, drobna, trwała, zdobi szkło. W smaku słodkie, gęste, pełne, słód, karmel, toffi, suszone owoce, cukier, cytrusy, przyprawy. Goryczka średnia, wysycenie niskie.

3.8 Bottle: Rich caramel, a bit dark and thick, thin to moderate tannish head, so-so lacing. Big caramel and toffee aroma, sweet breadiness. American Barley wine... really? A bit of dark pitted fruit in this one too. Mild hop bitterness. Seems more English than American. Moderate to full body and mouthfeel. Happy to see this one being much more malty and caramel versus a hop dominated example. Thanks for this one Kevin!

3.6 Bottled: Dark, hazy reddish amber with a small head. Sweet toffee aroma with lots of raw onions! Thick and sweet mouth feel. Sweet, malty taste with notes of toffee, brown sugar and raisins. A little bit of booze shows up in the finish.

3.5 355ml bottle from Systembolaget. Slightly hazy amber, got some particles floating around in the glass. Fluffy dense off-white head, rich sticky lacing. Huge pine nose with sweet toffee and caramel. Full bodied, mild carbonated, soft and sweet mouthfeel. Sweet caramel taste with a pine bitter finish.