Anchor Old Foghorn Ale

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

Deeply hazy orange with a finely bubbled orange-tinted cap. Rich toffee malt and orange skins and berries fill the aroma. sticky chewy toffee malt with a beautiful complimentary fruitiness and subtle spice that lightens the palate. Mildly bitter compared to most North American BWs I have tried but this does not diminish the deliciousness of this pioneering brew. Generously proportioned and perfectly balanced. One of the first and still one of the best!

A potential work of art. Cloudy, deep mahogany pour. Fluffy white head, dissipates quickly. Aroma of big caramel, raisins, spiciness. Flavord of caramel, leather, bread and spicy hops. Alcohol heat shows through, but subtly enough. Delicious little hop kick at the end contributes to the balance. Very nice. A little alcohol warming but it is young. A little time will calm this beer down.

2007 Bottle. Clear deep mahogany red with a thin light tan head that leaves a whispy web like cover. Big malty aroma, woody, alcohol, caramel and dry spicy hops. Taste is raisins, some syrupy and more spicy hops and alcohol heat.

A very complex, big time beer. Dark red pour into the snifter. Swirling thin but lasting head. Sweet with cane sugar, but hoppy in the subtle, balanced kind of way. Some citrus and malt, with the alcohol warmth bringing up the rear. Awesome.

Bottled dated 7SG, 2007 Sept 7. So this has a little age to it. Clear mahogany color. Aroma of toffee and citrus, but the citrusy Cascades will prove to be very muted on the tongue. Viscous body, low fizz. Dark fruits, caramel, a bit sweet tasting. A little alcohol comes through. Great winter sipper.

Abv 8.8%. Reddish-brown color, pours with a very thin head that doesn’t stick around at all. The aroma is sherry, grapefruit, and some alcohol soaked raisins. The flavors are sweet malts, grapefruit hops, not at all a hop heavy barleywine though, some rum or sherry notes with raisins and plums. Some really nice depth to this, easy to drink, incredibly smooth, and well-rounded. What a great representation of the style. One of those I enjoyed the more I drank it.

Bottle. Moderate malt aromas of caramel and roasted, light to moderate hops of orange peel and herbs, light leather for the yeast and date, toffee, brown sugar and alcohol in the background. Head is small, frothy, off-white with fair lacing and is mostly diminishing. Color is clear dark copper. Flavor starts heavily sweet and lightly acidic, then finishes moderately sweet and very lightly bitter. Palate is medium to full, syrupy, and has a soft carbonation. It finishes lightly alcoholic. A great flavor, even without the expected bitterness of a Barley Wine. Definitely the most easy drinking example I’ve tried.

(Bottle from Julio’s Liquors, cellared for 9 mos. after purchase) Sweet, sticky and hot…Pours somewhat hazy dark reddish-amber. Very little head and what there is mostly is around the edges. Aroma is somewhat piney along with sweet candy-like maltiness. Mouthfeel is fairly full, fairly smooth and fairly sticky. Only very light lacing along with a syrupy film inside of snifter. Flavor is sweet candy-like malt, almost like candy apple glaze and light caramel. Sweet but not over the top. Malt is overlain by pine and light-medium bitter notes. Fairly hot but ABV presence doesn’t detract. It’s more mellow than harsh.