Mad River Brewing Co.
Blue Lake, CA
Available: AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, HI, IL, IN, KY, MD, MA, MN, NV, NM, NY, NC, SC, OH, OK, OR, PA, WA, VA
Nutty caramel malt aroma, a sweet,warming full body and features hint of plum, black currant and maple. Serve in a snifter with dessert or chocolate. Winner of the 2010 Small Brewing Company of the Year Award from the 2010 Great American Beer Festival.
ABV: 10
ABW: 7.74
Color: 22.7
Bitterness: 77.7
Original gravity: 1098
Vintage dated deep chocolate barley wine is turbid with an intense depth of color. Malty, pleasantly medicinal nose is earthy, balanced with a clean herbal flavor. Luscious but not sweet on the palate with an omnipresent amount of hops on the back, make it a great food beer. We relished John B with a creamy oyster stew prepared with plump Puget Sound Pacific oysters, cream, local fingerling potatoes, and for dessert, a creamy buttermilk blue cheese—delicious.
It swirls and whirls in the glass like a voluptuous Middle Eastern belly dancer. Aroma titillates with flamboyant and pitty fruitiness combining with a deeply moving maltiness. This barleywine ale lurks in the realm of a British-style classic. Aged cherries are speculated, hops are in balance, yet only bluff. Compelling and wonderfully complex flavors. I am transfixed throughout this lesson in the etiquette of malt. A super wonderful barleywine indeed. Deserves to be shared with significant others.
Founder of Merchant du Vin and the Pike Brewing Co., Charles Finkel is a pioneer in the marketing of craft beers in America.
Author of the New Complete Joy of Homebrewing, founder of the Great American Beer Festival and a Beer Examiner at www.examiner.com, Papazian is a leading voice in beer and brewing.
