Pipeworks Murderous Barleywine Style Ale, Alc. 9.5% by Vol. Pipeworks Brewing Company, 1675 N. Western Ave., Chicago, IL.
Murky and dark, looking very purplish, maroon-y, magenta-esque, with hardly a sliver of head on top.
Wait, there's something on the label that screams out: STOP: Read Before Opening, although I already have. Let's read it anyway: "This beer is unfiltered. Sedimentation may occur. For best flavor, allow bottle to chill for two hours before serving, allowing for the natural yeast to settle out. Pour slowly into your favorite glass, being careful to leave sediment behind." I'll keep that in mind. It has been chilling for weeks, so that's covered.
There's more: "Cellar worthy! Store Cool!"
Why the exclamation points? Why is the bottle yelling at me? And why do I read that as stating that a cellar is worthy and that a store is cool?As read by a caveman, of course.
Enough of that.
We did appearance, now aroma: sweet and malty and deep. Dark fruits aplenty here, raisins, plums, dates. Brandy, cognac. Vastly flavorful, growing more so as we go. I'm going to take it real slow, then.
Taste: Heat from the first, big, fat, full to bursting. Massive malt, full fruit, plenty of hops holding in just in check. Bitterness only holds it's own against the vast wall of multitude.
There's a poem on the label, but they decided to do red letters on black backgrounds, and I can't read it. Something to with crows, murders, crimes. Looks like it rhymes. Quoth the raven, terrible design choice.
Tasty, tasty stuff. Batch 3, according to a Sharpied notation, black ink on white, quite sensibly. And © 2013, so it's fresh.
Big time barley-wine, but not particularly remarkable. Adequate, but far from awesome. I'm drinking it, I'm liking it, but I feel it could be better. Should be better.
Sigh…maybe just not to my taste. They're nothing wrong with it, but it doesn't really have to force and power that a big, booming fresh barley-wine often does. More mellow, and subdued, how a bw ought to be after some aging.
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