Day 553: Uinta Crooked Series, Cockeyed Cooper

I'm clearly cleaning out the beer lurking in the back of the fridge because nothing says beautiful June day like a bourbon barrel aged barley wine.

This one is the Cockeyed Cooper bourbon barrel barley wine ale from Uinta Brewing's Crooked Line Series. For the entirety of year one of this blog, when we were only drinking one beer from each brewery, Uinta messed with me during every trip to stock up on beer. Why? Because their labels are mysteriously wildly different from each other. Southern Tier? Has a look. Stoudts? Has a look. Uinta? Different. Every. Single. Time.

Barley wine ale can vary widely in tasting notes; however, it will always have a high ABV. It's typically lively and fruity, sometimes sweet or bittersweet. They can be challenging. Aromas range from intense fruits to intense hops. Body is usually thick and flavors can range from dominant fruits to big, resiny hops.

How did Cockeyed Cooper stack up? I'll admit it isn't the best barley wine I've ever had. It is billed on the bottle's label as having tastes of bourbon with splashes of vanilla and chocolate and dried fruits plus generous amounts of hops and malts.

It poured a murky, red-tinged dark brown ale with a full tan head. It left lots of sticky lacing in the glass. It smells of red currants and vanilla. There's a very thick mouthfeel to it. The first thing I noticed is the very hoppy finish, which is indicative of American style barley wine ales. I'm learning that I prefer non-American where you get more of a balance between the hops and malts. The flavor also produced some bitter chocolate and oaky notes. As it warmed up some it also had more sweet chocolate and cherry. It was also very boozy. While all this sounds very nice and tasty, the entire time I was drinking it, I kept thinking it was missing something. Maybe it was the big hop finish throwing me off...I'm not sure.

Will this cause me to avoid trying other Uinta beers? Doubtful.

Beer stats
Style: Barley wine ale
ABV: 11.1%
IBUs: 65
Rating: Average

Previously reviewed from Uinta
We're going in the "Way Back Machine" to Gary's 110th post for a review of HooDoo kolsch.
I reviewed the same beer on day 105 with some recollections of attempting to create some DJ effects on my Dad's very expensive stereo turntable. Happy Father's Day, Dad. Thanks for not killing me!