Anchor Old Foghorn Ale

Brewed by Anchor Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
San Francisco, California USA

pours a deep ruby, very clear, with a small head. Aroma has lots of caramel, malt, sweetness, and hints of alcohol. Flavor is very nice- dark fruits come through with a thick sweetness like cane sugar. Palate is very nice- sticky smooth, but not assaulting or cloying. Very good barleywine.

bottle. Caramel malts, sweet and malty on the nose. Pours a caramel amber with a thin head. Sweet and malty, caramelly, creamy sherry like flavors, with hints of piney hops. The hops come out in the finish as it warms. A nice barley wine.

Bottle: Poured a clearish brown with a light brown froathy head. Aroma is alcohol and caramel malt. Taste is sweet dark fruits, caramel malt, and sugary. The alcohol and hops off set the sweetness.

Pours a slightly hazy amber brown with a big cream colored head. Aroma is bready and malty. Taste is big and of bready malts with a slight bitter finish. Very good.

Really hard to explain this one. Pours clear red-brown with tan head. Very malty in smell, very candyish in sweetness. At the same time, the alcohol in this one burns. Not a very smooth burn either. There is a nice hoppy note in the nose, but it dies pretty quickly. Not sure what the hype is all about.

bottle from january 2008. sampled at eleven months old...

pours a slightly hazy reddish amber brown with a creamy pale tan head. the aroma is super malty and candy-ish... bubblegum, orange, raisins and other hard to pinpoint fruits, earthy spice and lots of sweet perfumey flower blossoms. the palate is full of grainy sweetness yet it is not sweet?... golden raisins, orange, aged grain, spicy hops, pumpkin pie spice and some actual pumpkin flesh flavor. warming alcohol and spice finish lingers into the aftertaste. medium bodied but so light on the tongue and UNcloying to the point where i want to drink NOTHING but this the rest of the night.

i do not like this beer fresh (6/3/6/3/13/3.2). but at nearly a year old it is so smooth, mellow and perfectly balanced. it*s not sticky, harsh or too rich = yum!

this pairs insanely well with pumpkin pie and vanilla ice cream! 8/3/8/5/18/4.2

Very good, hoppy Barleywine with a nice, viscous feel. Well, I have a bit of a soft spot for this barleywine. It was one of the first big beers that I ever tried. Old Foghorn has some stronger hop notes than are probably optimal in a barleywine. I would love to try a bottle with a few years on it, or a vertical tasting if anyone wants to invite me over. The liquid is a good eggplant color with a light head. The aroma is caramel malt and west coast hops, citric and floral with light bitterness. The carbonation is light and the feel is somewhat viscous in a good way for a barleywine. The aftertaste is very satisfying and lingers extremely pleasantly.

Bottle. Pours a dark amber with a 3 finger fluffy off white head and great lacing. Nose is floral hops, dark fruits and caramelized brown sugar. Taste is caramel, brown sugar, darks fruits and light hops in the finish. Sweet, but not overly so. Just enough to hide the ABV. Medium mouth feel. Good stuff.