Anderson Valley Horn of the Beer Barley Wine

Draft at The Dray. Pours a deep redish copper brown with a thin but tight eggshell white head. Nose is pretty tame with toasty bread notes, caramel and a hint of apple sweetness. Taste is fairly malty and isn’t overly syrupy or viscous. Maybe a bit on the thin side for me. Flavors are fine, but just a bit ’muted’ over all. The 10.3% is well hidden. Decent, but nothing special

I "horned" this stuff the morning after the Boonville Beer Fest ("horning" means drinking in Boontling supposedly). Copper color with a white head. Aroma of sweet caramel malt, fruit, and some hops. Flavor is sweet, malty, and fruity, with caramel, earth, and some hops on the finish. Medium-full, smooth palate. Very "hornable" for the style.

2008 on draft at Hard Liver Barleywine Fest 09. Fruity nose. Sweet and malty but almost thin and watery body with quick finish.

[Vintage 2006] Tap @ Barleywine and Big Beer Fest... Poured a hazy golden orange with a white head. Aroma of floral hops and citrus fruit. Soft, subtle palate that was very drinkable. Tart notes with a bit of citrus fruit and tea leaves. A little alcohol and also some caramel, earthy sweetness in the finish.

Hard Live 08. Sweet aroma of caramel, toffee, fruit and some floral hops. Dark amber pour. More sweetness comes through in the flavor with a decent floral finish. Flavor is fruity and sweet, yet somewhat hoppy too. Enjoyable.

bottle from Bevmo. Cloudy brown with a fizzy head. Caramel spice and alcohol aroma. Butter toffee and burnt caramel taste with a bitter finish. Not bad.

Very sweet barleywine. Big caramel flavor up front, brown sugar, chewy and a touch cloying up front. I enjoyed this beer, but with the sweetness this has it’s a small glass kinda beer, not quite to the sweetness level of JW Lees, but getting up there. Pours very clear dark copper with a smooth khaki head.