Widmer Brothers Old Embalmer
Barley wine.
3.6
243 reviews
Portland, United States
Community reviews
Aroma is tart, sweet malts, honey, clove and fig. Taste is dark fruits, yeast, candy sugar, and slight earthiness. The pleasant sweet palate of dark fruits and malts compliments the accenting bittering hops. Appearance is a clear dark amber with a medium pearl head that retains fairly well.
Hazy copper / amber pour. few fingers of beige head, good retention and lacing. Sweet aroma, toffee, bready malt, with a slight herbal hop finish. taste isn’t too sweet, body verges on being cloying but is braced well enough with hops to prevent that. Touch of pepper and a definite alcohol note in the finish. good american barley wine, a touch too much burn at the end.
Brassin 2012. Bouteille de 22 oz achetée chez Redhook Brewery (Portsmouth, NH) au coût de 11.00$. Arôme: Goût de caramel avec une pointe d’alcool. Apparence: La couleur est ambrée opaque. Présence d’un mince col mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût de caramel avec une pointe de fruité et d’alcool. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture légèrement onctueuse. Moyenne effervescence en bouche. Légère présence d’alcool en arrière goût. (Rating #7010)
Aus der Flasche getrunken. In der Fassung der Limited Edition Nr. 11 mit dem Experimentalhopfen X-43I. Helles Mahagoni im Glas mit weißem instabilen Schaum. Massiver Gaumen mit komplexen Geschmack nach Trockenobst, Tropicals und etwas Malz.
Copenhagen 10/6 2016. A birthday present to myself. 65 cl bottle from Føtex. Yellow striped label with big grey glass of beer on the side (Barley Wine I presume). Bottle is sealed with some kind of wax over the cap. Pours Reddish amber with small white head. Settles as lonely Islands of foam drifting around. Aroma of sugary fruit. Apricot, Fogs and dades. Reminds me of those chokolades you can get soaked in Madeira. Sweet toffee. Noticeable whiff of alcohol. Light carbonation and oily palate. Flavor is heavy sweet and sugary. Followed by and balanced partly by medium bitterness. Aftertaste is bitter sweet and lingering. A bit boozy. Well - as you can USD sugar as a conservator "Old Embalmer" might be quite a relevant name for this beer. A lot of taste and intensity - but a good deal to sweet to fit my taste buds.
Hazy amber, small offwhite froth. Fruity, malty aroma, hints of wood and booze. Flavour has sweet malt, caramel, some dried fruit and ok bitter bite. Boozy finish.
Bottled. An amber beer with a yellowish head. The aroma has notes of alcohol, malt, and caramel. The flavor is sweet with notes of alcohol, malt, and caramel, leading to a dry finish.
650ml bottle bought at Bainbridge Liquorstore, bottled on July 18, 2012. Pours a slightly hazy amber with a tan head. Aroma is sweet, tropical fruits, citrusy (orange). Taste is sweet, citrusy, slightly boozy. Hoppy bitterness piney, boozy aftertaste. Incredible that hops is still in the taste after 4 years! Very good.
Old Embalmer 2012, opened 4/25/2016. Much tastier than I expected it to be. A very nice take on the American Barleywine. Not too sweet at all, mouthfeel was medium. Even after sitting in the bottle for four years, it was still on the hoppy side. I would definitely have this again.
Bottle @ Kaisla, Helsinki. Pours hazy copper with a little head that leaves some lacing. The aroma features dried fruitiness, caramel, syrup and a touch of piney hoppiness. Taste is light to medium sweet, later also bitter. Dried, sherry-themed fruitiness is assertive, hoppiness perhaps a bit too subdued. Also some caramel appears initially and in the finish, a touch of grapefruit. The palate is medium-bodied and smooth. Not bad but does not reach the (high) standards set byt the best American barley wines.
2013 Vintage
Wax-Capped 65 cL bottle
Clear amber and copper coloured body with a thinnish tan head, only about a centimetre tall. Aroma of pit fruits, caramel, toffee, earth, plums, figs and a good bit of hops still noticeable. Medium-bodied; Strong toffee and figs up front that fade fast and don’t show much at all, especially malt. Aftertaste is showing barely anything - very interesting, just some water, light malt, toffee and figs with some light pit fruits and the smallest amount possible of alcohol. Overall, a very mild barley wine - perhaps its possible that I aged it too much and lost all it’s flavour. Not really worth buying nor aging, when after popping the wax there isn’t much to it, which is usually a decent thing for a barley wine, but not when it loses absolutely everything. I sampled this 65 cL wax-topped bottle purchased from Whole Foods in Washington (P Street, Logan Circle), DC on 05-January-2015 for US$7,99 sampled at home in Washington exactly a year later on 05-January-2016.
Vintage: 2013 // Purchased: January 2015 // Sampled: January 2016
Dark orange colour, white head. Aroma of caramel, nuts, dark fruits and biscuits. Taste is light to medium sweet. Light to medium body, thin body, soft carbonation.
Decent enough light tan head... nice lacing and retention.. the brew is a crystal clear light amber.
Nose shows some hoppiness that reminds me of orange blossoms.... floral and somehow a bit earthy.. balanced backbone of pale malt and pieces of toasty malt... no real "caramel or toffee".. pretty damn good.
Very balanced... not bitter ever.. good malt presence and a nice floral hoppiness... palate mirrors the aromas.
Body is a slippery medium and carbonation is light yet makes me want another sip.. liquid velvet.
Very drinkable out of the gate... The label suggests "cellaring"... I am torn, I have my doubts it will do any good, but you never know. Damn tasty and drinkable.. no element overwhelms any other.
Rated on 7-17-2015 (Bottle) The appearance is a small smooth beige head that mostly diminished, hazy amber body, fast rising carbonation, and spotty amounts of lacing. The aroma is malt, hops, earthy, and fruity. The flavor is hops, toffee, caramel malt, spicy, and boozy. The mouthfeel is smooth with some light carbonation. This beer is light-medium bodied. This is a good sipping beer that is easy to drink for the style and it is worth trying.
Hoppier than I like. Typical Widmer, making "please everyone" basic safe beers.
Light copper color. Lightly hopped and malt is a little light. O e of the thinest, lightest barleywines i have had. Light palate.
Tap @Olutexpo 2015. Deep amber color. Small size, yellow head, stays. Sweet, caramel, fruity, vinous, raisins in aroma. Raisins, caramel, toffee, sweet in taste. Long lasting raisins in aftertaste. I can feel the alcohol, but can’t actually taste it. And that’s the way I like it. Very well balanced. Excellent brew. More!
660ml bottle (OlutExpo2015)
Nice perfumey aroma. Light palate for its strength. Sweet malty body, but almost thinish. Does work as a sipper, but it’s so light you want to drink it more like a weaker beer. Caramelly and toffee finish.
Draught @ OlutExpo 2015
Pours dark orange with a small head. Aroma of berries, caramely malts and toffee. Taste is malty, sweet and stuffy with some toffee. Finish is caramely, sweetish and stuffy with some toffee. Decent.
Fonefan 100415. Amber colour with a beige head. Aroma is hop, alcohol, malt. Flavour is sweet, malt, hop, fruit, alcohol, dried fruits, caramel. Nice beer.
Dunkel mørk brun farve. Lukt av honning og karamel. Smak av honning og karamell. Vinøs. Melkebaren.
Bottled@PBF X (as Old Embalmer ’13). Amber colour, small white head. Aroma is caramel, some ripe fruits, alcohol, mild toffee, some berries and mild burnt sugary notes. Flavour is mildly bready, but in general very sweet malts along with some wooden, mild ripe fruity, raisins and burnt sugary notes.
Bottle 0.665l (2012 Vintage) at Kitty’s, Helsinki. Colour is ruby copper with very small white head. Aromas and flavours: Pine, dark fruits, raisins, caramel, dryness, hops and malts. Aroma much better than flavour. Needs maltiness.
(Bottle, 0.65 l - 2012 Vintage, 20150821) The beer poured deep copper coloured and clear. Its head was small and white. Aroma had raisins, pine and sweetness. Palate was medium bodied with medium carbonation. Flavours were malts, biscuits, sweetness, grass and bitterness. Aftertaste was hoppy and quite intensely bitter. A brew with good aroma and disappointigly thin taste.
Bottle, 2012 release. Pours a deep red-amber with a slight orange tinge and a light tan, mixed-grain, lacy, sticky head. Nose is blood orange, turbinado sugar, dried apple, toast, and maple. Dry on the front of the tongue, with definite earthy and rye bread notes; it stays dry and a little hot all the way through to the back of the palate. Hops bitterness kicks in in the mid-palate; it isn’t a hot sweet mess like some barleywines, though you can definitely sense the ABV. Finish has herbal and camphor notes, along with the booze heat. Restrained and quite good.
Lukt: Honning.
Utseende: Rødbrun gyllen farge.
Skum/kullsyre: Tynt dekkende skum, heng langs kant.
Smak: Honning, noe vinøst.
Hvor: Kjøpt/Nydt@Melkebaren, Sandnes.
Medium: Flaske@600ml, ABV@10,2%, Når@04.08.2015
0,66l bottle @ One Pint Pub. Pours clear deep amber with a medium off-white head. Aroma is sweet malts and alcohol. Flavor is sweet malts, alcohol and hops. Nice.
Hazy amber,small beige head.Big sweet malt/brown sugar nose.Full bodied malt profile with light alcohol heat and light hop bitterness
Bottle at PBFX. Vintage 2013. Amber color, small off-white head. Sweetness, rye and piney hops in the nose. Medium-bodied. Quite light for abv. Piney, ryeish and caramel. Simple, even harsh.
Bottle @PBF X. Yellow cap, wax. Amber colored, thick white head. Caramel, sweet, almonds, marzipan aroma. Flavor has sweetness, caramel, toffee. Long finish. Decent.