Avery Brewing Hog Heaven Barleywine Review

Since the other review here does a pretty succinct job of describing this beer, I'll skip that and just offer my reaction to it: whoa.  That can be both good and bad.

Certainly this beer is jam-packed with flavors of all variety.  It is deeply complex, and the type of beer that just sniffing it is satisfying enough.  The flavor is equally as complex, and I had the sensation of it really moving around my mouth in a succession of different flavors on a sip-by-sip basis.  It has a lot of everything.

Then again, there is a good reason that, say, wild rollercoaster rides are limited to short experiences.  After about 8 oz of this, I was really ready to move on to something that was not quite as full-throttle.  The richness of the beer makes a strong first impressionm but I found it quickly onerous.  Given that it comes in 22 oz bottles, find a few friends who will help you out with it.

For better or worse, this is the type of beer that would stand out in a blind tasting, but one that I don't find myself eager to go buy again.