Anchor Old Foghorn Ale

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

One of my favorite barleywines in past years. Rich and thick on the palate with some sticky maltiness, that coats your whole mouth with a type of complexity that is different upon each and every sip. Nice caramelized brown sugar sweetness, with some cinnamon, and some dried figs as well. All in moderation, the alcohol is quite balanced as well.

2006 bottle from OldStyleCubFan, who sent me this nice bonus right off my want list. Straightforward brown color, a little cloudy, with a small, stubborn head that reminded me somewhat of the Roch 10 I had before. Aroma is brown sugar and taste is brown sugar, dark fruits and a good level of bitterness.

12 oz. bottle served in a snifter. Pours a amber reddish color with a thick white head and sptty, lasting lace. Nose is sweet malt & brown sugar. Palate is thick, chewy and heavy. Low carbonation. Nice sweet brew with flavors of carmalized brown sugar and candied figs/dates. Alcohol is noticable, but not distracting.

Raspberry jelly red with a beige collar collapsing to a slick. Nose sweet and caramelised with a sprinkle of aniseed and rich cakey marzipan. Liquorice, aniseed and more marzipan in the mouth, with a juicy strawberry-like sweetness and gentle bittering hops. Palate light and fruity, the alcohol restrained but warming. Shavings of almond. Unsticky, rich, lightly medicinal with spice, cherryish alcohol and esters, bready malt and yeast. A bit Belgian, a bit English. The slick, rounded, mellow Barley Wine I hoped Fuller’s Vintage would be.

Pours a clear but dark brownish crimson color with a foamy, tan head that fades to a wispy film. The thick, sweet body leaves soapy, leggy, spotty lacing on the glass. The nose is as rich as they come, with intensely malty notes of brown sugar, maple syrup, caramel, and brandy soaked dark fruits. Figs, dates, nuts, and cherries are all present, and all are bathed in sweet, dark alcohol. The flavor is equally rich, and unabashedly so. This brew is malty as hell, and not afraid to show it. Some moderate, earthy, spicy hop character comes through on the back end, but its attempt at balancing things out is near futile. Vanilla does a good job of tying all the elements together into a smooth, sugary treat. A nearly full, sugary mouthfeel goes down smooth, but is a bit unsettling in the stomach do to all the sweetness. Ultimately, this is what I envisioned Thomas Hardy’s being before that liquid sugar bomb ruined me on ultra-malty barleywines. This one is still too sweet, but much more tolerable that Hardy’s. I’d like to see what a good 5-10 years does to a bottle. I’d bet it is devine.

(Bottle, Monk’s Café, Stockholm) Reddish brown colour with creamy, beige head. Malty nose with notes of dark fruit, cherries in brandy, slightly vinous with a hint of glue. Malty taste with caramel, dark fruit and earthy hops in a fairly bitter finish. Medium to full body, balanced sweetness. Smooth mouthfeel, but still fiery and powerfull. Very nice beer.

Hoppy and sweet combo. Bottle. Poured deep ruby red-brown with a thick head. Little lacing. Pleasing malty aroma with a brown sugar syrup note. Full mouthed flavour.

12 oz bottle from a trade with hogtownharry. pors ruby red with a short lived tan head. zero carbonation but since this came from harry its probably been in the cellar a while. aromas are typical barley wine but not as big as id like. flavours are also quite typical of the style but not big and full bodied like i was hoping. a nice brew that im glad i got to have.