Samuel Adams Griffin's Bow Oaked Blonde Barleywine Ale
Small Batch Series: From the aroma and notes of sweet honeysuckle, pineapple, and grapefruit, to richer hints of burnt sugar, and toffee, this intriguing brew is full of complex flavors. The distinct character of toasted oak adds depth and contrasts the light fruit sweetness. This unique take on a barleywine ale surprises with its smoothness and balance of fruit, hop citrus, and warming strength.
3.5
348 reviews
Boston, United States
Community reviews
Batch 2 bottle. A clear golden body with a white head that had some retention. There was a nice presence of carbonation. Aroma had a strong vanilla quality upfront. Notes if grapefruit, citronella oak and caramelized sugar. There was also a touch of alcohol. Flavor was dominated by burnt sugar and a banana like flavor. Hops were mostly floral and there were notes of grapefruit. Alcohol was a nice warming presence in the finish.
Starts with a large, upwardly cascading head. Slow to dissipate. Leaves plentiful, chunky lace. The liquid is amber and clear.
Nice smell of warming alcohol and pale malts. A touch of honey in the background. Some grapefruit (hop) notes in the background.
Rich and nearly cloyingly sweet. There is enough bittering hop to bring balance to the taste. The alcohol is ever present. The swallow is an interesting blend of spicy hop and sweet unfermented malt. The aftertaste lasts a long time. I don’t taste any buttery flavors from the oak.
I think this is one of the better Barley Wines.
I have had this bottle for a while and was afraid to break it out. Perhaps it would have done better sitting for a while. This was a bit harsh. Aroma is of alcohol and malt. Nothing distinct, very muddy. Flavor is booze and malt, sweetness, did not match well with chocolate as one wold expect.
Batch No.1 (Oct, 2011?)
A: Light amber with three fingers of whipped whites which falls slowly to a quilt of the same. Excellent clarity and near cobweb lace.
S: Vanilla, caramel, oak, plastic, nice hints of grapefruit and honeydew melon. Interesting nose.
T: Sweet as fuck. Wow, for such a fresh BW, this is one sugary beast, and the yeast is reminiscent of a dunkelweiss yeast. Sweet and has a ton of cereal (corn pop) flavors for me.
M: Almost too thin and flat for satisfaction. Body like a pils that’s been sitting for too long...
O: Not a very good attempt IMO at a fresh BW. Needs some hops for a blonde/american BW.
Serving type: bottle
11-26-2011
22 ounce bottle, Batch #1, from what I’ve read this bottle is about 2 years old now. Served in a snifter, the beer pours an orange/amber color with an inch or so frothy off-white head that stayed around for a while. There’s also a lot of lacing. The brew smells like oak, citrusy hops (pineapple, grapefruit, mango), bready and caramel malt, and some floralness. It tastes like caramel, oak, pineapple, mango, coconut, vanilla, toffee, and some earthiness. Mouthfeel/body is medium/full, it’s creamy and slick with a good amount of carbonation. I liked this brew a lot, it’s one that I thought was better and better the longer I drank it. It’s definitely worth trying if you come across it. I’d like to try a fresher bottle of this in the future, but it does age well!
Appearance:
Orange under a bread-white head that clings stubbornly to the sides of my glass. Swirls with a few splashes of lace while retaining a full thick head.
Nose:
Boozed spiced oaked peaches, apricots, kumquats, aloe, plantains, and guava. Cumin, ginger root, and grains of paradise are sprinkled throughout. Yeasty sourdough bread – kneaded and risen but not yet baked. Greenness in the back of plantain skins and dried herbs. White pepper and oak.
Palate:
While the nose was spicy, dry, and mildly sweet, the palate is another story – sweet, sticky, and borderline cloying. Like biting into yeasty sourdough bread risen but not baked (just like the nose) and drizzled with raw honey fresh from the honeycomb. Intense flavor and intense undercurrent of spicy heat. More spice along with oak on the sides. Green aloe plant and cactus in the back of each swallow. Apricots and kumquats on top.
Final Thoughts:
An intense and hot brew that could very well do with some ageing to smooth out the rough edges. Also, as much as I enjoyed the individual flavors, they never quite meshed harmoniously.
Sampled in a bomber. A nice brew with a crisp hoppy palate. A good balance of malts. Really smooth.
22 ounce bottle into snifter; batch 1, bottled in Fall 2011. Pours fairly crystal clear orange amber color with a 1 finger dense off white head with good retention, that reduces to a thin lace cap that lingers. Light spotty lacing clings on the glass, with some light streaming carbonation. Aromas of caramel, toast, toffee, biscuit, tangerine, mango, orange zest, pineapple, floral, light pine, clove, oak, and floral/toasted earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance and complexity of malt and hop notes; with good strength. Taste of caramel, toast, toffee, vanilla, biscuit, tangerine, pineapple, mango, orange zest, floral, light pine, clove, oak, and floral/toasted earthiness. Light pine bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of caramel, toast, toffee, vanilla, biscuit, tangerine, pineapple, mango, orange zest, oak, clove, and floral/toasted earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Damn nice balance and complexity of citrus/tropical hops notes with malts; with a great malt/bitterness balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Medium carbonation and fairly full bodied; with a fairly creamy and lightly sticky mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a small warming present after the finish. Overall this is an excellent barelywine! All around great balance and complexity of hop and malt flavors; and very smooth to sip on for the big ABV. A very enjoyable offering.
Where and how: bottle 660 ml @ tasting
Aroma creamy, slightly alcoholic, hinted vanilla , strong barrel feel. Sweet malts.
Appearance:
Top: mid-sized creamy off-white top.
Base: slightly hazy amber gold.
Palate : decent drinkability, with average carbonation. Medium bodied. Average finish.
Taste: medium intense. Malty with caramel base, barrel feel as in aroma. Noted alcohol heat.
Other notes felt bit simplistic.
My bottle [660ml] shared with jercraigs, mabel & Radek. Batch No. 2. Pours a clear deep golden-orange with an average size frothy off-white head. Some lacing on the glass. Lovely herbal aroma along with caramel malt, vanilla, oak, honey and alcohol. Flavour is fruity and lightly sugary sweet along with light grassy hops and alcohol. Moderate bitter finish. Medium bodied. Surprisingly good.
2013-08-23. Crisp dark yellow body with a small beige head. 3+ Aroma is a bit boozy with notes of oaky vanilla, caramel malt whispers. Flavour is moderately bitter, pale malt core, finish is bitter and fairly alcohol. Average plus bodied palate, modest carbonation. Okay. Bottle, Batch #2, shared by Blankboy.
Pours an amber orangish. Good head nice lacing. A bit oaky and very sweet and malty. Some vanilla. Heavy mouthfeel. A good beer.
Light orange/amber color. Thick, dense white head - almost like the head of a cappuccino. Lives up to the description pretty well, with some pineapple, honey, and creme brulee burnt-sugar flavors. The oak aging gives it some additional vanilla sweetness and mellows the beer, making it less unwieldy than most barleywines I’ve had.
22 oz. bomber. Pours deep hazy golden with a tinge if orange. White creamy head with pretty good lacing. Smell is citrusy, banana, vanilla and heavy oak. Taste is complex. Notes of pineapple, orange, oak and roasted malt. Booze burn at the very end but pleasantly offset by the tamed but flavorful hop profile. I love this take on a barley wine. A lighter malt without all of the dark fruit characteristics, but more citrus notes and the oak adds to the complexity while blending nicely with the perfect amount of hops. Sam Adams has put out some stinkers in recent years, but this is one that I really admire, and will look forward to drinking again.
(bottle - 22 oz) Slightly hazy orange pour with a thin white head. Sweet malt aroma with some light hints of oak and vanilla from the aging. Very sweet flavor at the start. Lots of malts with that vanilla twinge coming up after that. Some light citrus and hop bitterness at the end. Really smooth and warming.
Pours a clear amber color with an aroma of hops, toffee, and toasted malt. Fruit, oak, and toffee flavor. Decent beer.
Draft at Moriartys. Clear deep amber with a honey colored head that left some lace. Very rich and sweet. Lots of oak notes. Noble hops. Good first impression but it finishes poorly and develops an odd taste as it warms.
This started very nice but did not finish well. However, I may have needed to keep it colder. It had a nice aroma of fruits, wheat, grains and alcohol. The color was beautiful at a light copper with a small head. The taste reminded me of apple, spice, pale grains and alcohol. As it got warmer though the tastes did not blend and it was hard to finish. Nice barley wine but it packs a punch.
Pours a clear golden copper on tap with thin ring of white lacy head. Aroma is barley and thin maltiness. Taste follows, really not much going on, not sure how this is a bakery wine. A hint of sweetness on the end.
22oz bottle, batch 2. Labeled 10%.. Shared with friends over a game of Catan. Mostly clear orange / amber color. Thin kind of bubbly off-white head. Good spread of lace. Nice oaky nose, some citrus. Pineapple in the aroma. More malty taste, kind of biscuity, some vanilla. Bigger body. Smooth, lighter carbonation. Lightly creamy texture. More dry finish. Little bitter, sweet... Some lightly boozy sweetness. Interesting, tasty barleywine. Not as smooth as it could be, though. Still a little sweet warm bite in the finish. I dig the hop profile, though
Bottle from Batch No. 3. This brew’s appearance combines a clear orange color and a medium white head that fades quickly to a thin layer on top of the beer, and the aroma is reminiscent of grapefruit, fig, fruity citrus hops, and burnt sugar. The balance of this beer’s taste is phenomenal with its mildly sweet, slightly bitter, and mildly umami flavors, and the mouthfeel fuses a medium body, soft carbonation, long finish, and a oily texture.
Pretty awesome bomber pour than is a very unique barley wine. Oak is a good thing
Bottle. Medium orange-tinted gold, deeper than brass, with a dense light gold head. Aroma is surprisingly hoppy, floral fruit, sweet and sugary. Initially I wasn’t crazy about the first few sips, as I think I had presumptions that weren’t met. Specifically, I expected chewy toasty malts, and I was wrong. The malts here are lighter, and the hops are more pronounced. But before the first third of the beer was in my belly, I began to warm up to it, and by the end I loved it and was sad it was over. As I drank it, the floral character came forward, and the pithy dryness became a welcome balance to the candyish, honeyed malts. Best of all, the oak character, with its vanilla and woody undertones, quietly asserted itself as an elegant component. If nothing else, this beer demonstrates how oak can be a nuanced and elegant part of a blonde beer’s structure without dominating or overpowering like many oaked blondes out there (I’m looking at YOU Innis & Gunn!). This beer was like a new band: the first few listens, you’re not sure, but with time, the music becomes familiar and comfortable and eventually you want other people to hear the subtle genius of it. Loved it.
22 oz bottle. Pours dark honey. Thick white head. Mild sweet fruit & honey aroma. Good lacing. Sweet sticky mouth feel. Overall this was decent, but not all that intriguing to me. Not all that memorable.
Pours a dark clear golden color. Very skunky. I usually like golden ales and oak anything?but I couldn’t get past the skunky smell and taste. Very hard to finish this beer.
Pours a nice golden with soft white head. Nice sweet aromas of honey and citrus. Flavours are sweet honey and citrus, some tropical fruit too. Bitter, piney finish. Very nice beer.
Thanks cards04 for this one. There’s a nice hoppiness to the aroma, in addition to sweet honey citrus notes. Taste is not quite as intense as the flavour but still sweet and flavourful. Quite nice.
At Avery Strong Ale Fest 2013. clear golden with a foamy/rocky white head. Aroma is dank hoppy with notes of grapefruit rind, greasy hippie, and earthy pine resin with a slight Belgian blonde malt undertone. Flavor was really balanced between hoppy bitterness and calming sweetness. And full bodied. Nice Belgian pale malt sweetness with a bit of dustiness and a little caramel sweetness mix with grassy and floral American hop tones and a touch of grapefruit rind to finish.
I remember this being an enjoyable beer, loved the touch of pineapple and otherwise a moderately flavored beer but not in alcohol of which there is plenty. I recall a wheat taste but not mentioned on the label.
Apparently, this beer was originally released at 11.5% A.V.B, this batch is at 10%. Although that’s not a big difference, the higher alcohol level may have helped to enhance the Oak flavor a bit. The oak taste still combines with the malts and the New Zealand hops pretty well. The alcohol presence is certainly there but it’s not overbearing. As an American style Barley Wine goes, I prefer Sierra Nevada’s Big Foot, but this is actually pretty good.