Alaskan Brewing Co - Barley Wine Ale (2010)

Hump day. I sort of hate that term. Hump day.

No, I hate it a lot.

I'd prefer to just call it Wednesday, you know, like an adult. But I digress. Happy Wednesday everyone! I hope you're enjoying something delicious tonight. I know I am.

If you read my review of the Stone Brewing Oak Smoked Old Guardian, you'd know that I kind of like Barleywines. Just a little... (I can't lie, I love them)

The last time I visited the local liquor store I happened to come across tonight's beer. Tonight I'm drinking Alaskan Brewing Co's Barley Wine Ale. Now, it wasn't until I got home that night that I realized that this wasn't just a regular barleywine. Oh no, this was their 2010 barleywine. So I managed to score a 2010 Barleywine in 2013. I'll take that any day of the week and twice on a hum.... Wednesday!

Let's get this beer poured cause I for one want to get this thing in my mouth. You can take that anyway you'd like... (that's what she said)

The Alaskan Barley Wine Ale pours out a perfect ruby red with some nice dark, almost blood red, hue around the bottom of the glass. There was a finger and a half of a pretty white head that dissipates a little bit is lingering around for a while. Like a relative that just won't shut up and leave... although I'm OK with that in this case. The head that's decided to hang out with us gives the beer a nice two tone look. There is a crazy amount of carbonation coming up from the bottom of the glass. It's pretty cool looking. Let's get the nose on this beast.

Immediately hit with some sweet malts. A lot of caramel and vanilla notes on this as well. I'm getting quite a bit of dark fruits. Raisins, figs and some really delicious cherry notes as well. Like fresh cherry juice. There's a sweet bread kind of character that's really playing off the cherry notes. Smells a little like a cherry danish. It's not overly sweet. It's very subtle, very enjoyable. There's a slight bit of alcohol on the nose but it's more of a sweet alcohol. Maybe a brandy character perhaps even a cognac kind of note. It's really enticing. One of the better smelling barleywines that I can remember.

Time to drink! First thing I notice is that dark fruit character. Very much getting the fresh cherry type of notes I was getting on the nose. It's very bread like, and sweet. Like that danish I mentioned (I love cherry danishes). There's a lot of caramel on the tongue as well. It's a bit sticky. Very smooth. You get a little bit of the alcohol at this point but it's nice. A lot like a brandy, not just an alcohol burn. It's got good flavor. Back of the mouth I'm getting a ton of roasted characters. Big chocolate espresso sort of character. I didn't get any of this on the nose so to have it here is really great. As the flavors sort of linger and dissipate I'm left with more caramel and those vanilla characters I was getting on the nose.

So overall, the Alaskan Barley Wine Ale is incredible. I wasn't expecting much from this because I'd never had an Alaskan Barleywine. I was very impressed with their Smoked Porter and this is definitely right up there with that. It's incredibly smooth and balanced and often times with Barleywines, they can be too hot and just a malt bomb. I didn't get any hop character which is fine. I don't like my barleywines to be too hoppy.

Rating: A, bordering on A+

Wife didn't think it tasted like beer, but didn't like it either.

Alaskan Brewing Co. - Smoked Porter (2012)

It's that time of the week again! Yep, it's time to sit back, crack open a couple of beers, and kiss the shitty part of the week goodbye. Wednesday night and it's time for another beer review.

As promised over on Twitter (@tasteslikebeer), tonight we're reviewing Alaskan Brewing Co - Smoked Porter. This is the 2012 "vintage" and conveniently has the bottle on date right there on the label. In this case, Smoked Porter was bottled on 09/18/12 at 19:08. Wow, even the specific time! Oh, and this comes in at 6.5% abv.

Popped the cap and immediately get a nice whiff of smoke. Either that, or I've just lit something on fire... nope, it's just the beer.

This beer pours out pitch black. No light shining through. I'm literally holding this up to a light and I can't see through it. There is an off white head, bordering on khaki in color. Definitely not white, darker than eggshell, but certainly not mocha or brown. The head is about 2 fingers and somewhat fluffy. It sticks around for quite some time and leaves a very sticky lacing on the side of the glass. It looks awesome!

Taking a proper smell of this beer and it's just a really solid smoke. This beer smells like an incredible campfire that's just hitting it's full roar. Very woody and earthy. I'm really digging the smell. Makes me want to bust out some graham crackers and marshmallows. It's definitely the best smoked beer I've ever smelled. Granted, I haven't smelled a ton of them, but this takes the top spot.

Ok, enough rambling. Time to get into this Porter.

Holy. Shit.

This tastes just like it smells. Right away this beer has a subtle sweetness. It's not intense, maybe a little bit of a vanilla character. Middle of the mouth this beer explodes and leaves behind a ton of smoke. It's like I took the campfire and ate it. All of it. There's a slight hop bitterness coming in behind the smoke. A ton of earthiness. The smoke just lingers in the middle of the mouth. Back of the throat this beer finishes real smooth. The smoke is left behind for a nice sweet note. Vanilla, maybe even a caramel note coming through as well with a subtle maple character as well. A bit of an espresso character is showing up behind that.

Oh, mouth feel on this is perfect. Absolutely perfect in my opinion.

Overall, this is one of the best porters I've ever had. Definitely the top smoked beer I've been able to get my hands on. I regret not buying Alaskan Smoked Porter in previous years. I've seen it but never picked it up. That changes now. Get this beer if you can. Get a couple, drink one now, drink one later. Set me back about $9 but was totally worth it.


Rating: A

Wife said it tastes like I soaked wood chips in beer and this is the end result. In other words, she's not a fan.