Brewster's Blue Monk Barleywine

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

2014 edition from Willow Park (Calgary). CLear copper pour under a petite head of ivory hue. Caramel dominates the aroma with underlying alcohol and maybe some hop. Mouth less solid than expected. Flavour not super; mostly reflected the aroma: caramel, alcohol, hop. Bitter notes to finish. Lacks refinement. Not a fabulous effort.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Better than the highly overpriced Mill St. Barley Wine available locally.

This brew is brownish mahogany with a thin off-white film. The aroma is quite nice albeit too mild but I really don't mind that one bit. It has a good malt content with some caramel sticking out the most, alcohol that weakens later on, raisin, lots of hops (fruity and piny). The malt taste is bready and caramel, comes across sweet, strong alcohol and pine hops. Very fruity with an odd mix of malts and hops. Smooth mouthfeel with a alcohol / weak pine aftertaste and you are always left with deep breaths of alcohol. I like this stuff as it is not too harsh and allows it to be drinkable at a pace faster than you might have wanted.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

2005 version. On tap, 9.5%. Served October till March only, I first tasted Blue Monk at the Crowfoot Brewster’s location and was not impressed. I have been struggling with how to describe it, so decided to have another taste. This time went to the downtown Eau Claire location. Previously brewing was done at the 11th Ave place but have since moved operations to Eau Claire (in the old Hard Rock Café building). All beer is made here and then shipped to the other 5 Calgary locations. Wow, what difference freshness makes. Pours a deep amber-orange, slightly cloudy, with 1 finger of head. Very complex nose with a roasted coffee malt smell. The people I was with could not get past the harshness of the first taste, but once you adjust and get used to it, it's actually quite nice, and very complex. The middle taste is almost sweet; bubble gum is the best word we could come up with to describe it. Slight bitter finish balances this sweetness, but leaves no bitter lasting aftertaste. Mouth feel is actually kind of thin (in a good way). One might expect a heavy coating feeling because of the aroma and taste, but it is smooth and easy to drink.