Brewed By: Pipeworks Brewing in Chicago, IL
Purchased: 22oz bottle (Batch #274/275) bought at West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago, IL; 2013 (bottled 12.16.2013)
Style/ABV: English Barleywine, 9.5%
Reported IBUs: ?
It's cold and shitty and snowy outside, so a sweet, malty, English-style Barleywine seems like an appropriate way to cap off the night. About Pipeworks:
"A crime most fowl
neath midnight's scowl
Black eyes made for peeking
blackened beak for shrieking
What desire seeking
your dreams made carrion reeking
Seek refuge, pray dawns light...
The sky is murderous tonight."
The beer pours into a hazy/swampy golden raisin-colored body. If you aren't privy to golden raisins, then you can also compare the beer's body to a murky brownish-red color. It is a swampy beer, and it kicks up a finger of caramel/amber head. This one appears to be nicely carbonated, which is good news as well. A hazy coating of head settles in, and there is some lacing and slick alcohol legs.
On the aroma...toffee, sugars, brown sugar, an apple/raisin/grape note, some vanilla sweetness, and a weird candy/bubble gum aroma. There's a lot of sappy/resinous hop stuff on the aroma as well, with a pretty strong English-style thing going on. Maybe some bread/toast.
I'm getting a ton of brown sugar in the taste, with some English-style yeast that reminds me of a toasty/bready ESB or Bitter. There's some sappy hops laying low in the mix, but they are subdued by the sweetness. I'm picking up some raisin and grape, with hints of vanilla and toffee. This one gets better as it warms.
I'm drinking this super fresh, so the aggressive toast/caramel/bread/toffee/Marzen-like malts really stand out, along with some grapey hops. It's not bad, and the brown sugar note that you get is nice, but it's very simple for the style. This has a full-bodied mouthfeel with good duration. Palate depth is average and complexity is average to below-average. There is good carbonation, and I'm not picking up much booze. Nevertheless, the sticky sweet and aggressive malts make this one a sipper for sure. This one rides that line between cloying/obnoxious and decadent. I'm getting big toffee, brown sugar, bread/toast, and aggressive malts up front; that rolls into more brown sugar, some sappy grape/raisin, subdued hops; the back end trails off with some hop bitterness, and lingering malt sweetness. I wonder how this one will age.
Rating: Average (3.0/5.0 Untappd)
I'm feeling a Light Average on this. It's okay...nothing that you need to run out and purchase. I do think this beer has potential to taste amazing if it is barrel-aged. And wouldn't you know it, Pipeworks has done just that. I may need to try to get my hands on the barrel-aged version of this, because frankly, I think the barrel character would add a much needed dimension of complexity. As far as food pairings here go...this is a dessert beer meant to be sipped solo after dinner, perhaps with a cigar, but if you must add food pairings go with strong cheeses, smoked meats, or creme brulee.
Random Thought: It's supposed to snow tomorrow into the new year....I'm excited. I don't have to work, I have beer, and yeah. Cheers to that!
Reported IBUs: ?
It's cold and shitty and snowy outside, so a sweet, malty, English-style Barleywine seems like an appropriate way to cap off the night. About Pipeworks:
Pipeworks has humble roots. The brewery was founded in Chicago in 2011 by Beejay Oslon and Gerrit Lewis. The duo were both homebrewers that met while while working at West Lakeview Liquors. In 2011, they began to raise money for their brewery using the online Internet site, Kickstarter. Olson and Lewis were both educated at De Struise Brewery in Oostvleteren, Belgium. With that knowledge, and the money from their kickstarter, Olson and Lewis created a unique brewery that is smaller in size, and intended to brew smaller batches of beer. The company's motto is "small batches, big beers." And indeed, since the brewery has been around, they've been releasing a lot of one-offs and small batch releases. The goal is to release a new beer every week. You can read more about the brewery at their website HERE.
Tonight's beer is hot off the press, and was bottled two weeks ago. The back of the bottle states:
 |
| Pipeworks Murderous |
"A crime most fowl
neath midnight's scowl
Black eyes made for peeking
blackened beak for shrieking
What desire seeking
your dreams made carrion reeking
Seek refuge, pray dawns light...
The sky is murderous tonight."
The beer pours into a hazy/swampy golden raisin-colored body. If you aren't privy to golden raisins, then you can also compare the beer's body to a murky brownish-red color. It is a swampy beer, and it kicks up a finger of caramel/amber head. This one appears to be nicely carbonated, which is good news as well. A hazy coating of head settles in, and there is some lacing and slick alcohol legs.
On the aroma...toffee, sugars, brown sugar, an apple/raisin/grape note, some vanilla sweetness, and a weird candy/bubble gum aroma. There's a lot of sappy/resinous hop stuff on the aroma as well, with a pretty strong English-style thing going on. Maybe some bread/toast.
I'm getting a ton of brown sugar in the taste, with some English-style yeast that reminds me of a toasty/bready ESB or Bitter. There's some sappy hops laying low in the mix, but they are subdued by the sweetness. I'm picking up some raisin and grape, with hints of vanilla and toffee. This one gets better as it warms.
I'm drinking this super fresh, so the aggressive toast/caramel/bread/toffee/Marzen-like malts really stand out, along with some grapey hops. It's not bad, and the brown sugar note that you get is nice, but it's very simple for the style. This has a full-bodied mouthfeel with good duration. Palate depth is average and complexity is average to below-average. There is good carbonation, and I'm not picking up much booze. Nevertheless, the sticky sweet and aggressive malts make this one a sipper for sure. This one rides that line between cloying/obnoxious and decadent. I'm getting big toffee, brown sugar, bread/toast, and aggressive malts up front; that rolls into more brown sugar, some sappy grape/raisin, subdued hops; the back end trails off with some hop bitterness, and lingering malt sweetness. I wonder how this one will age.
Rating: Average (3.0/5.0 Untappd)
I'm feeling a Light Average on this. It's okay...nothing that you need to run out and purchase. I do think this beer has potential to taste amazing if it is barrel-aged. And wouldn't you know it, Pipeworks has done just that. I may need to try to get my hands on the barrel-aged version of this, because frankly, I think the barrel character would add a much needed dimension of complexity. As far as food pairings here go...this is a dessert beer meant to be sipped solo after dinner, perhaps with a cigar, but if you must add food pairings go with strong cheeses, smoked meats, or creme brulee.
Random Thought: It's supposed to snow tomorrow into the new year....I'm excited. I don't have to work, I have beer, and yeah. Cheers to that!
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