Name: Mendocino: Talon Barley wine
Brewed In: Saratoga Springs, NY
Type / ABV: Barley wine / 10.5%
Bought at/Price: Binny's / $4.49
Dennis: There are so many good things about this beer, but I'm just not convinced they all fall under the category of Barley wine. The malts are just so sweet on this brew, it comes across as more of a strong doppelbock. Of course with the high alcohol you have to hide it somewhere, but a stronger hop presence would have really have helped I think. There's bitterness in the swallow, but I think it's more of the alcohol than anything. Of course, if you like malty sweet beer than this is going to be your kind of barley wine, either way really it's a good beer.
Jen: First off, let me say that this an easy to drink barley wine. However, I find this to be too sweet to be completely representative of this style. It is quite malty with lots of dark, dried fruit flavors like raisins, prunes and a little bit of dates. The high alcohol content is hidden well by the sugars, but I find this completely lacking in the hops department, almost non-exsistent. For the price though, I find it hard to not like it a little bit!
Rating: 3.75 out of 5