Beer Man: Hops dominate Smuttynose's barleywine

Beer Man is a weekly profile of beers from across the country and around the world.

This week: Smuttynose Barleywine-Style Ale

Smuttynose Brewing Co., Portsmouth, N.H.

www.smuttynose.com

Smuttynose has produced an ale that follows the trend of many United States breweries, with a barleywine that has its fine malt profile somewhat overshadowed by bitterness and piney hops.

This is usually the formula when a beer is called a "barleywine-style ale" as opposed to just calling it a barleywine, which traditionally in England has very different hop flavoring and low bitterness.

Smuttynose's beer pours an amber color with orange highlights from the caramel malts. There is a hint of caramel in the aroma, along with a rich resinous hop background.

Flavors of raisins, toffee, caramel and vanilla provide the main malt flavors, but the pine, grapefruit and bitterness of the hops kick in and start to dominate. The rest of the sampling experience was similar: Strong malt flavor and sweetness right away, immediately followed by the hop experience.

The body is full and rich, with medium carbonation, temporarily leaving a nice, creamy mouthfeel before the hops provide a dry finish that alleviates any cloying sweetness. Aging this beer might alleviate the hops a bit and allow the malts to be more forward. There were no unpleasant boozy tones from the high 10.6% ABV.

The label of the barleywine shows an old-timey English cultivator holding a staff studded with hop cones. That is what the beer is all about: a traditional English malty barleywine matched with strong American hops.

Smuttynose's regular beer lineup includes Shoals Pale Ale, Old Brown Dog Ale, Finestkind India Pale Ale, Robust Porter and Star Island Single, a Belgian pale style. The barleywine is part of its Big Beer series that, depending on the season, includes a doppelbock, imperial stout, Scotch ale, Belgian quadruple, wheat wine ale and many more. The brewery, like many in the U.S., is continuousl! y growing and is in the process of expanding its facilities.

Smuttynose is available in 23 states, mostly east of the Mississippi River but also including California and Sweden; its distributor list is here.

Many beers are available only regionally. Check the brewer's website, which often contains information on product availability. Contact Todd Haefer at beerman@postcrescent.com. To read previous Beer Man columns Click here.