Monster Ale 2010 (Brooklyn Brewery)

In the past few months I've been buying up all kinds of Barleywine. Anchor's Old Foghorn is by far my favorite, but I want to try more just to make sure I'm not missing out on something. I've had Brooklyn brews before, and was never disappointed.

General Thoughts
Look and Smell: It's a brown with a bit of orange to it. It had very little head. With a vigorous pour, the little head it had still dissipated quickly. The ring of head was whitish little bubbles. It smells...like a barleywine. It has that grainy, wort-ish smell.

Taste: It tasted grainy. It wasn't as harsh as some of the bad barleywines I've had. The aftertaste was mouthwatering and boozy. It wasn't bad at all. Still wasn't great. I'd take Bigfoot or Old Foghorn over this. It was still quite drinkable though.

From the Brooklyn site:
Available from December through March, Brooklyn Monster Ale is a classic barley wine, a style of ale originally brewed by the butlers to the English and American aristocracy.

It is brewed from three mashes of heirloom British malt and spiced with aromatic American Williamette, Cascade and Fuggle hops. After four months of aging, it has a magnificent burnished copper color, an aroma redolent of sherry, citrusy hops and fruit, a soft, warming complex palate, a spirituous finish, and a strength of 10.8%. It is vivacious when young but will age gracefully for many years, becoming more complex over time.

**Reading this, I may keep my other bottles for a little while.

Update 3/31/2014: Nearly three years after my first taste and this brew has mellowed out. I still get all of those same flavors, but it also tastes like sweet date cake. The fruity flavors mingling with the sweet grain and booziness is a perfect dessert.