Brewing: Kolsch & Barleywine Sample

Bryan, Brian, Matt and I were hanging out after dinner last night. I thought it would be a great time to sample the Kolsch & Barleywine. I used the auto siphon to pull some out of the carboys. I'm always nervous when people taste beer that I brew, but, hey some of them helped with the barleywine so...it wouldn't be all my fault!!! ;-) We tasted the Kolsch. Nobody was particularly impressed with it. There were comments like. "It's kinda syrupy." There were other references to its mouthfeel as well. We reminded ourselves that it was warm and not carbonated yet. I'm not sure how much that will make a difference, but, I think it will improve the drinkability of it somewhat. Afterall, how many beers have you bought poured, stirred the carbonation out while it was room temperature? The Kolsch highlights...it's not thin, it has good balance, it isn't super dark like the alt we made and no nasty beer nose. it would probably fall into the ever so popular amber style of beer. We finished the keg of Alt last night so I might as well keg this since I'm gonna be cleaning the keg anyway. How was the barleywine? Well we were much more impressed with this one. Of course the style lends it self to being warmer and less carbonated. I don't have my notes here...AGAIN....but, its been in the secondary for a while now and is far from being finished. Well that's what all the books and sites say anyway. Honestly I like it a lot just the way it is. I do think that some of the harshness will fade as it ages. The barleywine highlights...it is definately a barleywine, it seems well balanced...maybe a little too bitter, color is good, alcohol is present, but, not distracting. Hey there were lots of smiles and heads nodding arond the table ;-)