Hazy orange, slightly oily looking body (from the alcohol presumably) a nice, small sustained head and some better than average lacing.
Smooth sweet caramel in the nose. Full in the mouth, lovely satisfying oils and a warm kick in the finish.
Very, very well disguised alcohol, much lighter drinking than the style would suggest. Sweet, tasty and rich. Although this is obviously a serious brew, it is amazingly drinkable and light. I’m giving it a 5 for drinkability in relation to the “usually not very easy to drink style”.
My experience with American Barleywines has been a bit hit and miss with some just being too much. I have come to the conclusion that I have to drink sweeter, malt based BW’s rather than the hop based ones. This is a great example of a sweet/malt brew that reminds me a lot of an very strong Belgian Pale.
Sip it, enjoy it and savor those complex fruits.
DFH is a GREAT brewery, and this is another example of a wonderful, wonderful piece of craft brewing.