Year of New Beer: Wings of Steel, Conshohocken Brewing Co (PA)

Written By: Dion on 10/02/2017

Most American barleywines are harsh, hoppy trainwrecks. This one, however, is a pretty solid effort, made even more palatable by the whiskey barrel aging. On the nose, a sweet caramel joins raisins and figs atop layers of citrus, pine, and whiskey-soaked oak. The tongue shows the American barleywine roots, as a fairly sturdy evergreen bite hits first, but gets reigned in a bit mid-palate with dark fruit and brown sugar sweetness. Rye spice and a pithy bitterness combine with a mild alcohol burn on the finish. This is good now, but I think it could mellow into something pretty special with a little time in the cellar.