Yards Brewing Olde Bartholomew Barleywine Ale (2011)

Hey everyone! I'm writing this, sipping on a Yards Brewing Company Old Bartholomew Barleywine. The Christmas tree is up and lit, presents underneath, and only one more day of work until I have to work again (sadly on December 31st). I sincerely hope all of you have finished your holiday shopping, and can avoid the inevitably heavy crowds this weekend.

Old Bartholomew is, according to Yards Brewing, a barleywine and a winter warmer. It's drinking like a barleywine, and definitely warms your soul up a bit, and is a winter release. I suppose it's not such a stretch to use the term winter warmer when describing this beer.

Olde Bartholomew Barleywine Ale

Yards Brewing Company

10.3% ABV

Bottled on December 7, 2011

At first Old Bart surprised me. It poured a much lighter color than I expected, a light golden orange (looks a little darker in the pic). There was less than finger width of head. Lots of bubbles rising to the top of my glass. It's not what I was expecting, but it is an excellent looking beer. I couldn't get much aroma out of Old Bart. Just a sweet malt aroma, and a bit of honey and lemon. The flavor is very much characteristic of a barleywine. Caramel malt, backed by just enough bitterness that doesn't overwhelm my taste buds. A subtle, smooth alcohol burn finishes it off. There wasn't a whole lot of carbonation, and there was more of a medium body to the beer.

Overall: A good beer. It's not an in your face, intense barleywine, but rather an enjoyable, smooth, sweet barleywine. I will be picking this up again.

What do you think of Yards Old Bart? Let me know in the comments!

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