The label lists both the Washington and New Hampshire Redhook breweries but I received this last week in the mail from Craft Brands Alliance of Portland Oregon. Bet it's a west coast brew. You know, another brewery told me again last week that it cost too much to get samples through the Maple Curtain and into Canada. Well, Redhook made no such excuses and sent a snazzy glass along, too. So there, anonymous and not mentioned cheapo brewer.

Pete wrote about barley wine today. I am non-committal about them. Haven't reviewed one for a year. For me, they merge to a degree through their intensity - in a similar way to Andy's DIPA discussion of last week. And the hopped up American ones can seem like a DIPA with the finishing aroma hops left out of the kettle.

This one pours the colour of aged and varnished pine. Is that right? No, it's got more orange than old hockey rink seats. A thin rim and foam is all there is for a head. Booze, marmalade and toffee aromas. In the mouth, plenty of weedy hop cutting the masses of barley candy, masking the booze. Creamy and rich with a thick mousse effect given a swish in the mouth. Heat in the gut. Long astringent weedy bitter finish. Infanticide? It was only bottled six weeks ago. At 10% it likely could have sat happily for years.

I was sensible and shared as I prayed for the Yankees to choke. A great beer to jeer A.J. Burnett with. Plenty of BAer love.