Summit 30th Anniversary Barleywine Review

Name: Summit 30th Anniversary Barleywine
Style: Barleywine
ABV: 11.5%
IBUs: 50

Summit is wrapping up it's 30th year in business by releasing the last beer in their 30th Anniversary Series and they've decided to end it on a high note with an English Barleywine. In fact, they released an English Barleywine around this time last year called Old Blaggard but this is totally different beer altogether. Plus this is also the strongest beer they've released to date, beating out Old Blaggard at 11.5% ABV.

Appearance - Mildly hazy dark orange color with a light amount of visible carbonation. The head is quite thin but it leaves behind some pretty good lacing.

Aroma - Strong caramel and toffee malts with some mild bitter & floral hops, along with some roasted barley and just a touch of dark fruit.

Taste - Strong caramel & toffee malts upfront that linger throughout. With some moderate floral and bitter hops towards the middle & I'm getting bit of rum raisin here too. The back end of the palate is more of that maltiness that was present in the front, along with some light roasted barley. The aftertaste is mostly mild bitter hops and light toffee sweetness.

With a strong malt profile and nice moderate hop profile to back it up, this marks the second time that Summit has nailed the English Barleywine-style. On top of that, even at at 11.5% ABV, there's no boozy flavors to speak of at all, which is no small feat by any means. Like many of their releases, it makes me sad that this is a one-off beer from Summit because this is one of the best beers I've had from them in quite a while. So if you so happen to see this, try it out before it goes away forever.

Summit 30th Anniversary Barleywine - 9/10