UPDATED: AUG 15, 2021 Wild festival Groningen. 2018 bottle. Vanilla, bourbon and vinous notes and hazelnuts in the aroma. Full bodied, almost thick. Vinous flavor with vanilla, lots of toffee and bourbon. Just slightly alcoholic.

UPDATED: AUG 14, 2021 The aroma is powerful malt, floral and honey notes. Amber color, transparent with a little foam. On the palate, malt, caramel, candy. The body is dense, medium carbonation.

UPDATED: AUG 13, 2021 15cl taster at Wild Festival. Appearance: chestnut brown with minimal beige head. Aroma: bourbon, caramel, molasse, barrel and wood resin, vanilla, sweet spices. Complex. Taste: high sweetness with moderate bitterness. Notes of caramel, lots of bourbon, molasse, burnt sugar, vanilla, tonka, hints of conifer sap. Palate: full bodied, sticky and oily texture, soft carbonation and slightly warming finish. Overall: lovely

UPDATED: AUG 17, 2020 500 ml bottle. Pours a very dark reddish brown color and capped by a small tan layer of foam that settles quickly to a thin film and leaves some patches of lace on the glass. The aroma shows notes of dry, dark fruits with raisins and plums, toffee, dark cocoa, vanilla, and oak over a toasted caramel malt base with soft bourbon oak and tannins. The flavor follows suit with the dark fruit of raisins and plums, toffee, brown sugar, and dark cocoa to go with the toasted caramel, bourbon soaked oak and vanilla on the back end with a touch of bitterness. Medium bodied and smooth with average carbonation that leads to a rich dark fruit, toasted caramel, bourbon oak, and vanilla on the finish. This is a really damn good and tasty barleywine. Easily one of the best I’ve ever had. Really well balanced and complex like all things you would expect from Hill Farmstead.

UPDATED: JUL 14, 2020 04-07-20 // Hopfenjünger-Hef big bottle sharing 2020. 2018 vintage. Barleywine perfection. Wow. Sugary sweetness but the sweetness so extremely balanced and embedded. Candied sugar and soaked fruits. Thick velvety mouthfeel. Fantastic bourbon notes.

UPDATED: MAY 26, 2020 Apparence : Brune foncée, assez opaque, léger col brun qui s'estompe rapidement, carbonatation moyenne (donc assez prononcée pour une bière ayant passé deux ans en fut et deux de plus en bouteille).
Nez : Caramel intense, cassonade, vanille, fruits séchés que j'associe surtout aux dattes. <br Goût : Réplique du nez, plutôt sucré, peu amer, profond, pointe plus grillée en finale.
Sensation : Corps moyen-plus, chaleureuse, longueur moyenne en bouche.
Bref : Cette bière est tout simplement délicieuse. C'est sucré et intense, mais pourtant jamais collant et on ne s'en lasse pas; beau travail du fut. Ça se boit dangereusement très facilement. Une critique? J'aurais apprécié plus de successions dans les arômes; c'est assez uniforme (mais ô combien agréable dans cette uniformité!)

UPDATED: APR 9, 2020 Bottle in the basement last summer. Sweet aroma with bourbon and caramel, taste is warming with bourbon, toffee and caramel

UPDATED: MAR 5, 2020 500ml bottle @ home. Thanks Charles. 2016 Vintage, bottled July 11, 2018. Pours an opaque dirty brown colour with a medium tan head. Nose is delicious, a nice mix of bourbon, caramel, leather, brown sugar, and wood. Flavour carries a nice depth, rich toffee, brown sugar, and rounds out with a leathery bourbon character. Medium bodied, soft carbonation, and a moderately high sweetness with a smooth warming character. Very nice!

UPDATED: JAN 8, 2020 From bottle. Dark brown color with beige brown head. Malty aroma, caramel, dark dried fruits, raisins, bourbon, wood, light chocolate notes. Sweet and light bitter taste. Medium oily body with soft carbonation.

UPDATED: OCT 19, 2019 500ml bottle, 2016 vintage, bottled July 11 2018. Smooth, super well balanced and malty with some caramel, toffee, bourbon, vanilla, oak and fudge. Quite soft and balanced. Nice one.