Dick's Barley Wine
3.5
174 reviews
Centralia, United States
Community reviews
12 oz bottle. Clear copper with a small beige head. Aroma of dark caramel, dried cherries, alcohol and light pine resin. The flavor is sweet and malty, with some fruity esters and a mild alcohol warming. Medium to full body with a soft carbonation and a syrupy mouth feel. Not bad, especially for the price. Could probably benefit from a bit of age as well, to tone down the sweetness.
Bottle served in a snifter. Pours clear but thick, dark brown with amber hues. The head didn’t want to happen and didn’t last long. Classic malty barley wine aroma. Honey soaked dates, nuts, and a hint of heat with a rich, flavor profile to match. Full body, very creamy texture, decent carbonation. Finishes very sweet, then nutty, then bitter, hot, sticky, dry and almost astringent. Delicious. The best Dick’s beer I’ve had.
Bottle. Poured a clear ruddy dark orange color. The head was thick and tan with an orange tint. Good retention and lacing. Smelled of hay and caramel. There was also a whiff of cinnamon. Medium bodied and dryish for a barley wine with moderate bitterness into the finish. Herbal/earthy hop flavor dominated with light toffee and citrus. The booze was pretty well disguised.
Smells like cinnamon, sugar, and apple juice. Boom, I taste alcohol at first but it’s instantly gone; replaced with a wheaty, malty, spiciness that persists. Has a well balanced hops in the back end that excellently offsets the sweetness. Flavor is very heavy, I could probably only drink one of these every other day before it annihilated my taste buds.
bottle, dark ruby red in color. highly malty and with a big burst of alcoholic steam behind it.
12 oz. bottle, pours a vibrant golden amber with a big beige head. Aroma of caramel, cinnamon, brown sugar and alcohol. Flavour is heavy and very sweet caramel malts, oak, vanilla, with a bitterness than lingers later. Oily texture, rich palate.
Bottle 12fl.oz.
Clear medium amber color with a small, virtually none lacing, fully diminishing head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, caramel, wood, light bread and roasted malt, light alcohol. Flavor is moderate to heavy sweet and bitter with a long duration, wood bitter. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft, finish feel is moderate alcoholic. [20100410]
Tasting at Papsø
Hazy amber color; small creamy head. The aroma shows some sweetish caramel, light vanilla oak, sweat, very light cheese. Caramel flavor, partially sweet, clearly nutty, but not as sweet as expected; strong bitterness, stronger than the malt actualy. Not a typical Barley Wine by style, but still an enjoyable beer.
12 fl oz bottle, courtesy of Papsoe. Pours cloudy brown with a small tan head. Aroma is overripe fruity and dense malty towards caramelish. Sweet caramelish and solid hoppy flavoured. Dark roasted and towards breadish into a dry and bitter finish.
Bottle at Papsø.
Clear orange coloured with a small off white ehad.
Sweet aroma of caramel, dried fruits, hops and pine needles.
Sweet flavour of caramel, dried fruits, hops and pine needles.
Dry hoppy finish.
Hazy amber with a tiny beige head. Sweet aroma with roasted malt, caramel and hoppy notes. Flavour had grapefruits, roasted malt, caramel and piney notes. Finished dry and bitter.
Bottle 35,5 cl. Courtesy of SecretSanta himself. Pours a clear deep amber with an off-white head. Aroma of oxidized caramel and malts. Medium body only, caramel and fruit and quite some good American hops that leave a decent bitterness. Nothing fancy here but a very classic American style Barley Wine. 100410
Tap at Blind Tiger. Pours a dark mahogNy. Nose is dark fruits and a hint of sour. It’s sort of a big mess some depth but more confusion. Berries dark fruits. It’s almost easy to drink and almost good.
Bottle. Dark amber pour, moderate off-white head. Sweet caramel and raisin aroma on it. Taste is much the same with some breadiness, molasses, and a balancing lightly bitter pine hop finish. This is by no means a chore to drink, but doesn’t have much complexity to it and is pretty darn sweet. I t does hide the alcohol very effectively.
On tap at Brouwer’s Hard Liver 2010. 05 vintage. Pours a fairly light reddish amber. Smells delicious. Very sweet – right up my alley for these. Caramel malts and overripe tropical fruits (sweet sop / cherimoya come to mind). Sweet flavor, too – fruit for sure, raisins and a bit of toffee, with just a bit of hop bitterness showing through. Covers its alcohol well (though I’d sure hope so after 5 years). This reminds me a little of an older Doggie Claws. I like it quite a bit.
Bottle. Aroma of metals, leaves (hops?), stale seeming toffee. Flavor again seems very metallic to me with very little malt richness, just a vague graham cracker sort of feel. Seems a bit dry for a barley wine as well. I’m not a huge fan of the style, but this one, while not repulsive, definitely seemed sub-par to me.
Bottle thanks to riversideAK. Pours a clear brown with a small ring of white head. Aroma of sweet malt, booze, molasses, raisins. Flavor of sweet caramel malt and lots of residual sugars. Ugh, so sweet and completely lacking in complexity. This was difficult to drink.
6/4/5/3/11 [2.9/5]
Deep red with a small tan head that fades fast. Light on aroma but what’s there is caramel, fruits and molasses. Strong malt presence with a lingering hop bitterness.
12 oz. Bottle with at least 7 months of age. Probably 2009 bottle., served at cellar temp. Pours Clear burnt sienna, with huge frothy eggshell head. Aroma of caramel, grass, perfume, lavender and vanilla. Still some great hop bitterness then a huge sweet malty note. A bit of a grassy finish, but great rich molasses after taste. Very lively on the tongue, but it really brings out some great flavors. Overall, only a tad too sweet and very complex beer, ABV hidden well.
It’s an odd sensation in your nostrils during the cold winter months: rotten apricots. But the most delicious rotten fruit could hope for.
2005 was a fruity year for Barleywines and Dicks Brewing made sure to capture the essence of sweaty pears, moist apples and rotten mandarine oranges. 4 years ago I was enduring the blight of cold and snow of Northern MN at this time, desperately unlucky to be unaware of barleywines. NO LONGER! All things dreary and bleak melt away from you like an ice auger buzzing through frozen Lake Bemidji…or yer tum tum. Naturally, battle for that HUGE northern pike will tire you out and you’ll need some liquid confidence to see it through to the bitter, curse-filled, finger-slicing end.
So while yer nose turns bright red because you think Seattle is “cold” in the winter—consider absorbing some Vodka through your feet and some ‘05 via yer mouf.
From an old rating note: 12oz bottle Kate brought back from Washington trip. Copper pour with a thin off-white head. Caramel, orange and alcohol in the aroma. Taste is caramel malt and citrus sweetness. Warm throughout.
12 oz. bottle courtesy of riversideAK. The beer has a clear copper color and a thin, beige head. The aroma is rich, malty caramel/toffee with some resinous hoppiness lingering in the aroma. The flavor is hoppy and surprises with how much the grassy and pine hops jump out in the first taste. The malitness seems a bit soft and is not able to balance this beer. I get some of the caramel and a little toasted bread, but am not a big fan of the hoppy barleywines. The alcohol is well hidden - or at least masked - by the flavor and hoppiness. This is medium-bodied, is very smooth and has a soft texture.
Bottle Pours a good brown with a thin off white head. The head leaves quickly, but laces well for a lack of head. Aroma of sweet fruits, and some toastedness. Has a decent carbonation. The flavor is good. Sweet but not an overpowering barley wine. Alcohol is blended very well and hard to pick up. Has a resiny texture. The body is medium. A good finish with a sweet aftertaste.
Bottle. Poured almost purple with thin fast dissipating white head. Aroma of citrus and caramel and raisins. Sweet raisiny flavour with a citrus and alcohol note. Alcohol finish. Not reallly bad, but not a winner either
12oz - Aroma of raisin, caramel and hoppy pine resin. Flavor is bad. Sweet and astringent. Palate is sticky. I did not think this was a very good barley wine.
Aroma: resinous, vegetal, caramel
Flavor: Aged one year. Fruity, full-bodied sweet malt with firm bitterness on finish.
Comment: Not really complex, not yet integrated after one year ƙ/09).
2004 750 mL bottle shared by Jason. The beer pours to a clean mahogany body with a thin grayish/white head. The aroma is deep caramel with sweet barley and treacle. Very complex. The flavor is mostly the same as the aroma. Sweet sugary palate that leaves the mouth watering. Some spicy alcohol. Held up fantastically! And perhaps, got better than fresh.
2004 750mL bottle. Poured deep, near-clear garnet with a thick, easily-resusciated cap of beigey-tan head. The aroma picked up toasted toffee, green raisins, and bready character with accents of dry earth and peppery spice.. warmth was masked well. The flavor had sweet caramel and toffee at the core, with some darker fruits laced throughout.. white peppery yeast and wheat-like sourness (not much sourness) surrounded.. dry finish with a touch of lighter fruits joining the nice maltage. Medium-plus and much better carbonated than expected.. spicy where it needed to be and sweet where it needed to be.. well-balanced and well-aged.
Bottle from MSM. Pours a hazy dark brown. Not much head. Smell of alcohol mostly. A little sweet. A little sour. Tasty.
This is not what I expected. The finish has subtle sour fruit notes. Pours with a formidable head. This is because this beer has a high level of carbonation. the carbonation and the sour-ish end make this feel a little like a Belgium.