Uinta Brewing Co.
Salt Lake City, UT
Available: AZ, CO, DC, DL, GA, MD, MA, NY, NC, PA, SC, UT, VA
Now in its 16th year, Anniversary Barley Wine began in limited release to commemorate the founding of Uinta Brewing Co. Due to positive feedback and strong demand, it is now available year-round.
ABV: 10.6
ABW: 8.44
Color: 20
Bitterness: 72
Original gravity: 1092
Uinta knows how to brew some beautiful beers, and XVI Anniversary Ale is no exception. It pours a clear, dark amber from the bottle, leaving a couple of fingers of ecru head before receding to a thin top that surprisingly remain throughout. Aromas of caramel, orange zest and alcohol greet the nose, along with some very ripe fruit. And a malty backbone carries a surprising hop spiciness and dryness that allows a bit of juicy ripe fruit to sneak in as the beer warms in the glass. While this beer is enjoyable now, it should get even better with a little age on it.
This is a big beer in every sense. Pungent hops front-load the aroma, giving ample notice of the resins and fruit to follow in the taste, which is earthy, tangy and robust. There’s a little burst of orange in the mouth but this is soon swamped by an unusual sappy note that reminds me, bizarrely, of cucumber. The finish is full, tropical fruity and warming with more earthy, leafy hop character. Personally, I like my barley wines to be less aggressive than this one, but Uinta’s sixteenth annual offering should keep the hop addicts content.
Lisa Morrison, aka The Beer Goddess, writes about beer whenever she can and also gets to talk about it on a weekly radio show in her hometown of Portland, OR.
Author of the Good Bottled Beer Guide and The Book of Beer Knowledge, Jeff Evans is an eight-time editor of the CAMRA Good Beer Guide and one of Britain's best-known beer writers.
