Blue Point Old Howling Bastard

Brewed by Blue Point Brewing
Style: Barley Wine
Patchogue, New York USA

Cask tumbler at DBA on 1/13/07
Dark beige, creamy head is small but well-retained atop a deep milk-chocolate brown body with very dark violet and auburn tints on the edges. Not bright, but not overly muddy/opaque. More like a medium clarity. Little specks of lace are left behind.
Very sweet notes of chocolate fudge soothe the nose. More challenging notes of light roasted barley impart a pleasant vinousness while a bit of dry breadiness balances things on the backside. The malts never go overboard, however, and the beer keeps a rather elegant air about itself, never getting too thickly sweet or cloying. Light, fresh yeast is quite notable on the end, and while it’s very clean and lightly nutty, it cuts short some of the sweetness with an almost nutty blandness. Medium sweet caramel and light toffee are continually found with more dry breadiness mixing with the dark fruits to give a slight tinge of sourness. Soft, graceful hops are moderately aromatic, juicy and floral and do not show any overdone bitterness. No alcohol noted, medium strength of aroma.
Pleasantly sweet in the mouth, quite velvety with layers of soft caramel, light toffee and milk chocolate. Minor breadiness and a lack of exposed, hard crystal malt is readily apparent here (and looking at the commercial description, that’s probably because there is no crystal malt in it, lol). A touch of prunes and light grapes midway through, finishing with dark chocolate, caramel and green, floral hops. Low carbonation, but no looseness of body for a cask ale. Really free from any syrupiness, sluggishness or cloying sweetness, despite the fact that it manages to stay mostly sweet the entire time. Clean yeast dryness is felt on the end. No warming from alcohol and no flaws. A lighter, less complex example, but done very well for what it is.

on cask @ Pizza Plant Walker. Intense, smokey, bourbon. Just not into Barleywines.

on tap at barcade- 10 oz pour. Orange/light amber in color. Aroma is light citrus and pine and caramel. Taste is pretty sweet, hops are there but are in the background adding some flavor but not much in the way of bitterness, body could have also been a tad more full.

on tap-pours an offwhite head with copper color. Aroma is sweet. Taste is alcohol, syrup, sweet.

Sampled on tap at the brewery. Deep amber appearance. The aroma was sweet. It has a candyish sweet malt flavor and a minty aspect. Kind of simple, especially for a barley wine. Nothing memorable.

Flour City Brewfest ’06’. This was the last beer of the night. Just beat the rains. My tastebuds were shot by then, but I was still able to taste too many hops. The amount of alcohol did me in too.

Clear ruddy amber w/ a finger of beige foam. Sweet fruity & malty aroma of plums, raisin, caramel & butterscotch. Thick, chewy feel. Flavour is malty & fruity w/ roasty notes & a dry, warming finish.

750ml bottle picked up in NYC for a whopping $17 at the cheapest beer store I’ve ever been at. 2000 vintage. The bottle claims in 2003 this will be ’awesome.’ Poured a hazy reddish copper body with a large head. Aroma is lotsa caramel and lighter sweet malts. Got some sherry with a hint of darker fruits as well. If Bigfoot had the same cost for 12 oz, I’d take Bigfoot in a second. This wasn’t bad, but the price tag is just stupid. I picked it up hoping it was some 3.8 or 3.9 rated BW that had sat in a dark store for 6 years. So much for that idea. Never again.