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Beer Review – Bötet Barley Wine

Posted on 03 mars 2010. Tags: Bötet, Bötet Barley Wine, Nynäshamns Ångbryggeri, Review

A Barley Wine

Nynäshamns Ångbryggeri, Nynäshamn, Sweden 9.1% ABV. Systembolaget Article Number 11724. 33.50 SEK (250ml bottle) A Barley Wine

Impressive coppery 'fox fur' colour with a fine light beige head that quickly collapses (not unexpected for a beer of this strength).

WOW! Oh this is a real sniffer people! Take you time with this one, jam your nose down your glass to suck up smells of fresh pineapple chunks soaked in cognac, honey. apricots and whiffs of spicy alcohol notes

As you'd expect from a barley wine Bötet is a bit like singing diva Maria Carey - on the surface it's nothing but sweet but beware - it carries a nasty bite! Treacle and silk mouthfeel with more honey and pineapple but watch out because here comes the alcohol punch. A bit too much booze in the finish?

As well as making a great digestif, Barley wine beers are intense enough to partner strong cheeses, including classic cheddars, Gruyeres and my absolute favourite – a mature stilton. Because young barely wines are often ’sticky sweet’ they melt nicely into caramelized desserts like creme brulee. Remember that as barley wines age they become less sweet and more madeira-like in flavour.

Nerd note

As with all Nynäshamn's beers this little cracker is unpasteurised, which combined with its style and high ABV means its a potential 'keeper'. I recommend buying a few bottles, drinking some now and ageing some bottles for a year or two. By then the raw alcohol tones may have softened and if that happens you've got yourself a stunning barley wine for just over 30 SEK!

Rating

4.0 of 5

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Sotholmen Extra Stout – Missing that little bit ‘extra’?

Posted on 17 februari 2010. Tags: Bötet Barley Wine, Nynäshamns Ångbryggeri, Sotholmen Extra Stout

With breweries producing ever more intense , alcoholic beers these days it’s a welcome relief to see that Nynäshamns Ångbyggeri at least agrees with me that good things can come in little packages.

The brewery has fairly recently upgraded its bottling line so that it can handle smaller bottle sizes and Sotholmen Extra Stout is the first beer out in their new rather cute 25cl bottle format.

So little bottle, big beer right? Well, not quite.

Sotholmen is an impressive beer to gaze at. It pours very dark, almost black and has an appetising fluffy dark tan head. The aroma promises much, with a hit of filter coffee and port wine.

However in the mouth I struggled to find the something ‘Extra’ the beer claims to have. If Nynäshamns means extra alcohol then that’s in there, but it fails to give the beer the body and complexity I’m looking for in a strong stout.

This is even more surprising because this beer, like all beers from Nynäshmans is unpasteurised, and I’ve come to take for granted the smooth, full mouth-feel of the ‘live’ beers from this brewery.

Cold coffee with a dash of milk – there’s lots of that and a little bitter chocolate but that’s about all I could find. It feels a little grainy and thin considering the 7% ABV, finishing with a dry, slightly boozy finish.

Don’t get me wrong, drinking a small bottle of Sotholmen is a pleasant way to pass the time. But then so is watching curling at the Winter Olympics. Hardly exciting though, is it?

(footnote: Watch out for another 25cl bottle from Nynäshmans being launched at Systembolaget on March 1st . This time it’s their 9.1% ABV Bötet Barley Wine).

Sotholmen Extra Stout

A Foreign Stout (strong stout) from Nynäshams Ångbryggeri

7% ABV

Systembolaget Article Number: 11723