Bristol Old No. 23 Barley Wine

Brewed by Bristol Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Colorado Springs, Colorado USA

12oz bottle via trade with BeerandBlues2. 2005. Aroma: Strong sweet malt, bread, light ginger, rich caramel, raisins. A bit of alcohol, but not as much as I was expecting. Appearance: Very dark orange in color and murky. No head. No lacing. Flavor: Sweet malt with a strong caramel presence. Bread, chocolate, raisins. Some pine and grass hop notes. Bitterness was nice, but lingered just a touch too long. Alcohol was noticeable, but not intrusive. Palate: Full bodied and creamy. Despite having no head, there was a good level of carbonation on the tongue. Strong alcohol warming in back of mouth. Overall: A very nice barleywine. Well balanced and drinkable, despite the high alcohol content. Just what I needed after a long day at work.

(Bottle 65 cl) Pours a hazy amber with a small, off-white head. Soft caramel aroma. Very full body and sweet with distinct caramel and a very aromatic hopping. A very smooth and pleasant Barley Wine. 211006

Bottled 2005. Hazy amber coloured with a small head. Sharp and alcoholic with notes of cardboard, malts and dark fruits. Sweet and slightly perfumed.

Bottle 2005. Orange amber colour with a small tan head. Sweet caramel malty, fruity, sugar, hops aroma and a sweet caramel malty, rye bread, fruity, light alcoholic taste. Medium body with a light alcoholic finish.

Vintage 2005. A hazy amber beer with a thin orange head. The aroma is sweet hoppy - Cascade giving it notes of grapefruit, but also with strong notes of alcohol and caramel. The flavor is sweet malty with lots of caramel notes, but also a strong alcohol note, which lends the beer a metallic tinge. Toward the end the alcohol leaves a slight burn on the tongue and in the top of the throat.

12 oz. bottle from Santa Fe Spirits. Drank on 8/22/06. 2005 vintage. Clear, dark copper to light amber. Very thin layer of foam - can hardly call it a head - off white to light tan. Disappears immidiately to a ring of foam. Aroma - decent sized aroma - lots of sweet malts, some fruity hops - apricot, cherries. Almost candy-like sweetness. Flavor - some average up front bitterness that disappears on the tongue. Really smooth, well balanced, and sweet in the middle. The sweet, fruity, malty flavors come out in the finish. Cherries. Palate - pretty full bodied. Carb is on the low side, but good for a BW. Oddly it kind of thins out in the swallow. Overall - Pretty good BW. Nice aroma, good flavor, good mouthfeel. No head, which is somewhat typical for the style. I guess it could be a tad thicker and stronger, but there is no lack of flavor or complexity. No alcohol flavor or warmth. Will definitely be stocking up on the ’06.

2005 bottle thanks to B&B2. Poured into small Koningshoeven goblet glass. I could smell creaminess as I poured it, interesting. Pours very dark amber with no head and barely some lacing. Aroma is strong - a very subdued and creamy plum raison BW aroma. Very nice and much lower on the alcohol than expected. Taste is sweet syrupy fruits and again raison/plum BW. Very subdued for somethign this strong. Medium body but very smooth and really no sense of alcohol. Very low on bitterness. A very nice example, I will age a few of these.

Thanks to BeerandBlues2. Hazy orange color with a solid white head. The aroma was very sweet, and you definitely could tell the alcohol was there. The taste was heavy--plenty of malts, and some definite syrupy fruit tastes (like the syrup from a can of peaches or something). This one was too syrupy and heavy handed for my liking.