Shipyard Pugsley's Signature Series: Barley Wine

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

Pours a thick foamy brownish head. Complete dark brown colour, with reddish hues. Faint alcohol smell. Malty aroma and a bit of yeast. Nice creamy and yeasty mouthfeel. Good lacing. Dark chocolate flavour, sweet malts, nuts, and a hint of caramel. Pretty bitter aftertaste. Strong stuff but tasty.

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

625ml bottle: rating this after sampling it fresh, this sample has a couple of months in the cellar on it. Pours a hazed dark brown with ruby highlights. Sticky 2 finger cap like espresso foam, laces the snifter well. Aroma is complex dark fruits, treacle, raisin bread, cherry pipe tobacco, a little vanilla becomes more pungent as it warms - nice! Rich oleaginous mouth feel, robust body.fruity complex character, well balanced, well rounded very drinkable for such a big ale. Flavor profile begins with a rush of malt complexity, dried fruits and hops slamming the palate, then this becomes a complexity of flavors and tones whirling over the tongue - dates, vanilla, cinnamon bun, dark treacle, coffee, cocoa, dried cherry - then the finish becomes pleasingly bitter with resinous hops taking over as it goes clean, roasty and lightly dry with a lingering roast/bittering after taste. Wow! What a great Barley wine. This begs to be barrel aged.

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

625ml bottle
8.5% ABV
King/Spadina LCBO Outlet (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
September 29, 2012
The beer pours a solid dark brown with black edges, and creamy tan coloured cap. The aroma is grainy malt, some roast, and some metallic hops. The mouthfeel was medium bodied with medium carbonation. The flavour was roasted malt, metal, and some molasses/maple sweetness in the mix.

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

Single bottle from the LCBO. Pours a deep ruby colour with a huge creamy beige head, with great retention and beautiful lacing. Aromas of fruits (plum, raisins, figs), sweet and roasted malts, with notes of chocolate and molasses. Smooth silky mouthfeel with absolutely no burning. The first thing that grabs me from the taste, is the hop. It has notes of rust (which I am not fond of). After sitting a while, it does slightly disappear, but the hop gives this one much bitterness, which results in a slightly dry finish. Notes of cherries, plums, wood, burnt malt, whiskey, caramel and bread. A very nice barleywine that goes down too easily. Just wish that rusty hop would not be in there.

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

Age of this English Barleywine is believed to be around 3 years give or take. All malt with characteristics of caramel/toffee, raisin, buttered toast and a splash of rum. Dark amber brown with a foamy tan head and thick lacing. Filling with a subtle warmth and smoothness. Surprisingly delicious.

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

From Whole Foods (San Francisco) in a bomber. Dark brown murkly body and no head. Mild aroma, maybe some malt. Decent mouth. Flavour had malt and black licorice. Not an inspiring offering, I'm afraid.

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

A 'light' barley wine. A murky brown pour with a some reddish hues around the edge and a tan coloured head. Aroma is dark malt, chocolate, and licorice. The flavour is sweet malt, chocolate, with a bitter finish.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 7

..I want to be with you. I want to hold you. I want to meet your parents and pet your dog...
My parents are dead, the dog ate them...pours a deep plum, light spots of lacing .. . burnt sugar dominates, pretty weak in the mouth for a barleysine but decent overall .. . addams family ..

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

A pretty decent barleywine, and one that seems to be like every other barleywine I’ve had at mediocre brewpubs. Extremely overpriced though, but I guess the gold foil makes it special (along with the tagline of Pugsley Signature Series).

The beer pours out a reddish/brown color with a smaller sized beige head. Aroma is buttery caramel, roasted nuts, with a earthy chocolate note. The alchol tries to hide behind the caramel malts, but it just can’t. Earthy fruit like character, ragged malts, a bit of sweet bread with a jammy finish and an alcholic bite.

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

Pours out in a clear deep ruby brown colour with frothy lasting tan-coloured foam. The aroma is dominated by butterscotch with tired undertones of fudge, caramel, figs and peppery alcohol. Full-bodied with strong notes of figs, raisins and prunes with touches of peppery alcohol. Medium-bitter finish of spicy hops and grass with dense undertone of prunes and figs. Just a simplistic English-style Barley Wine.