Richbrau Barleywine

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

Pours a slightly hazey brown with not a whole lot of head. Low carbonation may be a side effect of the growler, but not a problem for the style. The aroma when fresh out of the tap was intensely fruity with lots of tropical fruits coming out, but that mellowed a bit in the growler to where you get more of the malt complexity. A bit of smoke, a tease of chocolate roastiness, caramel. It’s a little hot, but really quite mellow and drinkable for its size.

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

The Richbrau Brewing Company is an outstanding brewpub located on Cary Street, in the historic old district of Richmond, VA. The brewpub is located in an old "Tobacco Barn". These warehouse like buildings date back to colonial times. It was here that tobacco was dried and stored before it was sent down the river to be traded. The trade that goes on in this building is now the brewing of fresh, delicious beer. Richbrau's beers are unpasteurized and unfiltered, and as fresh as can be. 22 ounce bottles are available to go as well. I had a nice appetizer of spicy Buffalo wings here, with a sampler of beer. Their deliciously hoppy pale ale called Old Nick went perfect with the wings. But it was their 7 Barrel Barleywine that really got my attention. This beer pours to a murky caramel color with a slight tan head, and virtually no carbonation. The nose on this beer is fantastic. Big sweet malt, and "fresh bread" aromas marry with peppery whiffs of alcoholic strength. The palate is rich, complex, and flavorful. More sweet malt flavors, fresh bread, butter scotch, caramel, and a touch of vanilla coat the tongue. The body is hefty, this beer is slightly oily, and slick. This beer ends with more big sweet malt flavor then dries out with a quick hop bitter bite, and a warming high octane burn. Really a fantastic barleywine, rich, flavorful, and warming. This beer is perfect for sipping at the brewpub on a cool fall afternoon, or a cold evening. I would match this beer with desert. It would go great with a nice piece of NY Style cheese cake. Richbrau is a very good brewpub, great atmosphere, great food, and most important for the beer lover, really great beer. Virginia is for beer lovers.