Posted by: Tyler Rippeteau
Oct. 10, 2012
Tröegs Flying Mouflan Ale is the next beer up in The Barleywine Project. The twelfth beer on
The List was not easy to get my hands on, but I obtained it as a part of the
same trade that brought me the beer for our last review here at 20 Beers in 20Nights. Yes, I had to give up a couple
Russian River bottles, a few Crooked Stave bottles and a bottle of Hair of the
Dog Fred from the Wood, but I was well compensated.
So here are the stats for the Flying Mouflan:
Location: Home
Cost: Trade
ABV: 9.3%
IBUs: “100-ish”
Brewery
Location: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Style: American
Barleywine
Average Beer Advocate Rating: A/4.14
My Beer
Advocate Rating: A+/4.5
Current Number
of Reviews on Beer Advocate/Rank in the Top 20: 515/9th
Description: Tröegs Flying
Mouflan Ale
Bottled On:
2012 Vintage
APPEARANCE: (3.5 out
of 5) The actual beer here is not terribly good looking. The color is a few shades darker than the
standard deep mahogany that so many others on The List have been, but it is also
cloudy and murky. It isn’t bad, just not
the best, and for lack of a better word, very quiet looking. Weird word, I
know, but that is what comes to mind right off the bat. The head, however, makes up for the color not
being stellar. Off-white and very
uniform, it rests quietly (yep, had to use it again) and regally on top of the
murk beneath. A fair amount of patchy
lacing also graces the backside of the glass.
SMELL: (5 out of 5) One
sniff of the cap when it was popped revealed a boat load of brown sugary malts
and when I stuck my nose in the glass it was more of the same. The brown sugar then gives way to some
banana, chocolate, cinnamon, clove and other spices. Caramel and a bit of breadiness are also
present. This is the prototypical
Barleywine smell. I don’t think it can
get any better.
TASTE: (4.5 out of 5)
Many Barleywines that have smelled sweet and malty like this one have ended up
being very citrusy and bitter. I have
enjoyed that contrast a lot, but before I take a sip, I think it is worth
noting that as I would not have expected citrus prior to beginning this
project. I have tasted enough now to
know that that is a distinct possibility, but let’s see…
Yep. The citrus is
strong here in the forms of lemon and orange.
The catch with The Flying Mouflan, however, is that the citrus is not
the flavor that greats the tongue, rather it provides the strong and bitter
finish. The orange seems to be the segue
from the brown sugar, caramel and the much-more-chocolaty-than-expected front
end to the lemon and grapefruity tale end.
Some roasted malt flavors also linger throughout the finish providing a
bit of a smoky aftertaste.
MOUTHFEEL: (4 out of
5) I would categorize this beer as smooth and silky, but with a mild sparkle,
just enough to tickle the tongue and make it feel playful. Given the murky and solemn appearance of this
beer I was not expecting to use an adjective like playful to describe it, but
the darkness was probably obscuring a lot of action beneath the surface.
OVERALL: (4.5 out of
5) I’ve been spoiled recently. The
Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Barleywine was phenomenal yet Tröegs’ Barleywine
effort is no let down at all.
Back-to-back homeruns in my opinion.
The Flying Mouflan smells exactly like a Barleywine should and the taste
lives up to the aromatic billing. This
is a classic and very well-done Barleywine.
On a separate note, as I have been known to do, I am
drinking this bottle with a plate of prosciutto di parma, blue cheese and
crackers. Not exactly knowing what to
expect from the beer, I chose two of my old blue cheese standbys, Point Reyes
Blue and Oregonzola Blue from Rogue Creamery.
While the Point Reyes normally edges out the Oregonzola in my book, the
Rogue selection is a near perfect pairing with this Barleywine. It is the less sweet and tangy of the two,
which works perfectly with the dry and bitter finish of the beer.
