Not with a whimper …

No-Li Brewhouse is ending the year with a bang.

Big Bang Barley Wine has arrived as the brewery’s new Expo Series seasonal, replacing the Winter Warmer. It’s on draft at the pub and beyond, as well as in 22-ounce bottles.

At a hefty 10.5 percent alcohol by volume, it’s pleasantly warming now that winter is getting real. While there’s some hop presence, the ruby-brown beer is more malt-forward compared to gnarlier American interpretations of the style like Sierra Nevada’s Bigfoot.

Smooth and slightly syrupy, its nose of candy and alcohol carries over into the flavor, with a toffee sweetness and hints of vanilla and fruity esters on the way to a drying, lightly bitter finish.  

“It’s more of a malty barleywine,” says No-Li brewmaster/co-owner Mark Irvin. “The nice part about that is it will literally age gracefully, for years. The hops won’t diminish and they won’t oxidize, so the beer just tends to age more eloquently.”

No-Li is aging some itself in whiskey barrels for future release.

And as for getting a bomber of barley wine for less than six bucks … well, we’d have to call that a big bargain.