Out of the Bottle: Kitchen Sink Barleywine

I feel like my Kitchen Sink Barleywine is finally ready to review. It's been a long wait, but I think the results were worth it.

Sink pours into my snifter with a deep chestnut brown hue that has decent clarity. A generous head provides nice retention and leaves a solid serving of lace behind. Pine, oak, orange marmalade, citrus and lightly toasted bread greet the nose. The hop aromas are way out front, but not overpowering. In the mouth, the 87 IBUs bring a forceful bitter bite that carries the pine and citrus from the nose, without being overly grapefruit happy. Malts are there with a toasted edge. There's not much sweetness to be found outside some of the hop flavors, but that's OK by me. The bitterness lingers long into the finish. The roughly 9.5% ABV adds a nice warmth going down, but the alcohol is otherwise well masked. Letting the beer warm to cellar temperature makes the experience even better.

The beer's body is substantial from the large grain-bill and oily from the hops. Its considerable heft creates a sipping drink that discourages you from imbibing too quickly. Soft carbonation that seems part and parcel with all my bottle-conditioned brews rounds things out.

Overall? I'm pretty happy with my mash-up of leftovers. Perhaps I'll clean the cupboard with another one of these in 2013.

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