It poured a delicious brick red/ruby/brown type color, and left a very weak head.  All of this expected for an 11.5% ABV barleywine.

As for smell, I managed to grab a whiff before I hopped in the shower, and it was very thick with syrup and molasses, and cut with a hefty dose of ethanol.  It smells as a barleywine should, although I’d prefer a bit more hops.  Then again, I prefer all beers over 50 IBUs.

The taste was really upsetting at first.  I was less than thrilled.  It was just alcohol and a teensy sweet.  Not bad, necessarily, but the cost is not worth it.  However, once it warmed up a bit, and I was half way through, it really opened up.  It was quite sweet…  it really balanced out the alcohol well.  I have to admit, it almost leaves you with a vanilla or bourbon finish, but not quite.  My tongue actually begs for it.  Pop this beast in a bourbon barrel for a few months, and this beer would be a 9.  As it stands, it’s only a 6.

-brian

I guess in all fairness it wasn’t just the two of us. It was us, 43 Michigan breweries, and nearly 4000 other attendees. Somewhere in there we ran into some old friends, made some new ones, drank no fewer than 24 different varieties of beer, and loved every minute – except for the line for the toilets. That sucked.

I guess its worth mostly talking about the stuff we liked quite a lot, or at least what was very good. There were only a few serious disappointments, and for the sake of everyone involved, I’m going to avoid naming them for now.

(Oh, and that photo right there is Brian and I being sweet, waiting in line for our first beer of the day)

One of the beers we had towards the end of the day was from Short’s Brewing. By the time we got there, they were out of Soft Parade, which I was looking forward to trying again. We got to try their Black Cherry Porter, which I wasn’t impressed with. Maybe I was burnt out on beer by that point, but it didn’t make me want to drink it like I always want to drink, say, Huma-lupa-licious.

Original Gravity Brewing had the one beer that I had all day that was close to being really good, but didn’t quite do it for me. Guys: your Belgian Training Wheels needs some more body. That would have made it a fantastic, classic beer. Certainly drinkable, but not great. Maybe that was the point (as evidenced by the name), to give beginners something that’s highly palatable, while they’re working their way up. Either way, a little more malt and sweetness, and you would have had me.

At Founders we had Kentucky Breakfast Stout and Cerise. Both exactly what I expected, and both fantastic. Kentucky Breakfast will be out in a month or two, and if you like bourbon beers, its a must. The Cerise is replacing the Rubaeus as their Summer/fruit seasonal. Made with Michigan Cherries, it has a great sour cherry character to it, and will be a major part of my beer life when it comes out.

Another highlight was the 4 Elf Winter Warmer from Dark Horse. Dude, it was probably the best spiced winter ale I’ve ever had. I wish it got some distribution (’cause they DO bottle it), ’cause I would love to get my hands on some.

My second favorite brewery of the day was Arcadia. They had their Big Dick’s Old Ale bourbon-barrel aged, which they were calling Pappy’s Big Dick Bourbon Barrel Aged Old Ale. Its a mouthful, either way you look at it. Flavor-wise and name-wise. It was good for what it was, but the real gems at Arcadia’s booth were a bit lighter.

Their Sky-High Rye is amazing. They’re having a hard time keeping up with demand on it, so I haven’t seen a bottle of it yet, but I will be buying when I do. You should too.

They also had a Firkin of Hop Rocket Imperial IPA. Oh man. Three-day dry-hopped Hop Rocket? COUNT ME IN. It was really good. Maybe one of the best beers of the day.

They also had Rick Moranis at their booth.

Taking a break from beer reviews (and a breather before we get to the best brewery of the day), here’s some more of our photos.

Brian and I both love beards and beer – we keep no secret about this. Babe mannequins are also funny, especially when they have beer coming out of their chest. Which is why Rochester Mills gets the Best Booth of the day award from us:

We also managed to find Jeff, Brian’s old co-worker (and occasional B&C contributor). He’s a beer enthusiast, and so are his sister and her boyfriend. They’re awesome. Oh, and his sister special-ordered a case, yes a case, of Goose Island’s Bourbon County Stout. Seriously. Just emphasizing how awesome they are.

Okay, now its time! Best brewery of the day! Who is it? Who is it?!

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KUHNHENN BREWING COMPANY!

From their Bourbon Barrel Barleywine (very good!), to their Raspberry Isbock (great!), to their Tenacious Cassis Fruit Infused Old Ale (a currant Old Ale? Awesome!), it was all great.

Brian and I had to agree that the best beer of the day was without a doubt their American Extreme IPA. In a Firkin! Exclamation marks!

Seriously, this beer is amazing, and has without a doubt one of, if not THE best balance of malt and loads of hops I’ve had in a long time. Bittering, flavor and aromatic hops all coming together… oh man. I want to drink this all the time.

This lady poured it for me. Twice!

This is Brian’s “holy cow beer is sweeet” face.

This is Brian and I drinking our last beer of the day. We were way happier than we look in it. I promise.

Thanks to my manager at work for the tickets, thanks to our friends who shared beer with us, and most of all, thanks to all the brewers making not only the best beer in Michigan, but some of the best beer in the world.

Ian!

So without further ado, I’m trying this year’s batch.

Its lightly carbonated, and as such, it poured with almost no head.

There is definitely an alcohol content in this beer. In both aroma and taste, its one of the first things you notice. The other thing? I’ll give you a hint: its not hops.

Malt. This is, after all, a Barleywine. Well, I guess they call it an Old Ale, but it still has that wonderful, complex malt character that we drink this type of beer for. Caramel, with plenty of roasted malt.

There is very little hop flavor to it. They say its 50 IBU, but the sweetness of the malt doesn’t really allow that to come out.

Its light carbonation goes well with the full mouthfeel. It sits on your tongue with such a nice maltiness, that I find myself drinking it faster than I probably should; I want to experience it again and again.

9/10

I was kind of bummed, but I like supporting Michigan beer, so I was determined to not let Brian’s opinion effect my own at all.

I’m really glad I bought this beer.

To start, it has a fairly dark brown color, with just a bit of red in it. It pours with quite a bit of head. Like, a lot. And apparently, I’m not the only one who says so. But that’s okay with me, just have to let it settle.

Once it did (and I finally got the rest of the bottle in the glass), I was pretty pleased. The aroma isn’t anything amazing, but pleasant. One of the reviews on RateBeer.com describes the aroma as “musty”, which isn’t totally inaccurate (maybe that’s why they call it an OLD ale. I’m hilarious!). I’m not sure of its alcohol content (not on the label), but you can smell a bit of that too.

The flavor is also nothing revolutionary, but solid. A nice mouthfeel with a bit of malt weight to it. There is a nice roast flavor to it – almost like the time Brian and I burned a homebrew IPA, except not as bad.

The aftertaste is good. Hops and malt are both there, but not the sticky, sweet malt you get sometimes with some beers.

I would totally go for this again sometime when I wanted something a bit on the dark side, but not a stout or a porter. Not worth over $2 a bottle to drink regularly, but it’ll find its way into a mixed six pack of mine again.

5/10

Ian!