Tag Archive | "Mohawk Barely Wine"
Beer Review – Mohawk Barley Wine
Posted on 11 augusti 2010.
A Barley Wine
A colloboration between Wicked Wine and Stefan Gustavsson. Brewed at Sigtuna Brygghus. 10.5% ABV - Systembolaget Article Number TBC. 36.40 SEK (330ml bottle)
Reassuring burst of CO2 upon opening. Cloudy cognac colour under a roasted corn-coloured head that quickly evaporates. There's an intriguing deep amber/red tinge to it. It looks old - like the cover of an antique leather-bound book.
Straight away the English heritage of this beer shines through. The candy-spicy-floral notes from the Goldings hops are layered over a rich, bread-dipped-in rum body. It's completely lacking any US grapefruit and pine vibes - Hallelujah! There's wood in there too. It smells like an old staircase that someone's painted with treacle. Biggest negative is that there's a hint of solvent from all the booze. It's muscling its way through the malt, saying "look at me, look at me!!!" This beer needs some time.
Before I start describing the tastes I've got to mention the mouth feel. There is hardly any carbonation here at all. The beer is incredibly smooth, with just a tickle of gentle effervescence in the finish. Treacle, treacle, treacle, melted brown sugar, nutty, toffee pecan ice-cream (without the ice-cream), molases, some dry leafy tea notes. Taste starts off as sweet then transmogrifies into a balancing dry, nutty middle and finishes with a warming boozy glow. There's reputedly 100 IBUs in here but it is perfectly checked by the treacle sweetness.
Barley wine is one of, if not the, greatest cheese beer there is and often knocks wine flat on its back. US BWs (which tend to be more hoppy and tropically sweet than English BWs) are fab with Blue/Gorgonzola, while the drier, nuttier, more raisin-like English BWs go hand and glove with mature cheddars and a stinky chunk of English Stilton.
Nerd note
Mohawk Barley Wine joins a very exclusive club of Swedish craft beers that have strayed over 10% ABV. What makes this beer particularly interesting is that it is brewed using only Goldings hops from Kent in the UK (and is dry hopped with them too for extra intensity) and this classic hop's signature candy-spice-floral notes are clearly evident in the nose and taste. Personally I think it's running a bit hot right now and would benefit from a few years of ageing in order for the residual sugars to calm down and the booze to soften out. I'm scoring it as it tastes today, but can imagine it might easily increase a half point in years to come.
Rating
3.5 of 5
Posted in Beer ReviewsComments (7)
Mohawk Barley Wine – an exclusive first look!
Posted on 10 augusti 2010.
Here’s an exclusive first look at the latest in one of Sweden’s most successful ever beer franchises – Mohawk Barley Wine!
I’ve been lucky enough to get my hands on a couple of bottles of this eagerly anticipated 10.5% ABV barley wine that boasts a tongue-curling 100 IBUs and is modelled on a recipe for an imperial ale made in Scotland back in 1835.
Now stop, read the previous paragraph one more time and then tell me beer isn’t the most interesting, innovative and just drop-dead-gorgeous drink out there right now – I dare you!
Gypsy brewer Stefan Gustavsson has kept good to every single word he told followers of BeerSweden’s Facebook page back in April by producing two new additions to the Mohawk family – the barley wine you see above and Mohawk Stitch (a brown porter) which both go on sale at the Systembolaget on September 1st.
I’ll be hunting down a bottle of Stitch over the next few days (so stayed tuned) but what do we already know about this big-arse barley wine?
Well once again it is a beer borne out of the collaboration between Stefan and Swedish drinks importer Wicked Wine and once again it has been brewed by the creative team over at Sigtuna Brygghus.
In a departure from all the US-dominated beers released of late MBW is brewed using ONLY East Kent Goldings hops from Kent for both aroma and bitterness. It’s even been dry-hopped with them too for good measure to ramp it up to the levels of a modern day double IPA.
Now I was born and raised in East Kent, so I’m extra excited about trying this beer!
It is built on a foundation of pale ale and pilsner malts with a sprinkling of Munich and Crystal malt to add more depth of flavour.
Barley wine is a malt-accented beer that benefits hugely from being stored for several years in order to fully develop and express all its complex wine-like layers of flavours. I however can’t wait that long, so expect the first ever blog review of Mohawk Barley Wine in the next 24 hours!
Posted in The BeervineComments (6)
© 2010 BeerSweden. Powered by Wordpress.
