Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Jack & Ken’s Ale

Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Jack & Ken’s Ale is an American Barleywine aged about 2 1/2 years. This is labeled as a Black Barleywine and this definitely pours darker than your average barleywine. Backing up the color is the flavor of deep roasted malts. Getting notes of caramel and brown sugar with a good bit of spicy hops still sticking around. Some anise and leather on the finish with a lot of lingering molasses in the aftertaste. So there is a lot going on here, but this is one of those times when complexity doesn’t equal greatness. Don’t get me wrong it was a good beer, but for me all those flavors just didn’t quite work well together.