Bristol Old No. 23 Barley Wine

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

12 ounce bottle dated 2005 from BeerandBlues2. Poured into a snifter. Poured a very hazy, murkey even, orange/amber with a average off white head. A bit of lace. Quite sweet malty aroma. Candy-ish. The alcohol make it medicinal. Citric and piney hops are apparent. The flavor is a mash or malt, hops and alcohol, none of which are taking control. The all seem just to get in the way. I guess I can pick out a peach/apricot/necterine type fruitiness, but the finish is way boozey. The palate, while not exactly watery, surely leave something to be desired. Just an okay beer.

12oz. bottle dated 2005. Hazy orange/amber color with a small off white head. Sweet malty aroma with caramel and citrus hops. Flavor was mildly sweet with lots of caramel malt and a bitter hop finish. Alcohol started to really come on as the beer warmed.

Bottle shared by TheBeerCellar2: Pours a slightly hazy copper bronze with a thin lightly-lacing off-white head. Soft sweet caramel and fresh noble hoppy aroma. Body starts with a somewhat syrupy caramel malty flavor and some fresh green lingering bittering hops in the finish. Fairly-well balanced but could use some aging.

Pried from the tight grips of Thebeercellar2’s cellar. Poured a hazy amber color with a thin off-white head. The aroma was sweet and fruity that was dominated by apricots. Sweet malty flavor. Fruity with some notes of bubble gum. Pretty warming with a medium body.

3/18/06. Poured out of 12 oz. bottle, purchased at Liquor Max in Loveland, CO 9/30/05. Rated blind. Muddy brown-orange with a rocky, soapy head of cream froth, strangely lasting. Very little lacing. Aroma steers towards the berry end of barleywines, rich with juniper and prevalent higher alcohols, sweetly resinous with a tangy, zesty sappiness. Some aged piney hops but somewhat little caramel depth, masked mostly by the sweet fruitiness. Like berries tossed in a few teaspoons of melted brown sugar. Flavor strikes immediately with oxidation, a sweet papery taste, even in this relatively young age (though, to be fair, it HAS been 6 months). Also lots of sticky berry skins and a light earthiness. Soggy-dusty hop resins mingle with the malt. Pretty good balance, actually, and I’m not overtly offended with the oxidation. Medium body with an interesting cooling sensation and prickly, sappy finish. Quite dry and stiff, alcohol blending with a puckering twiggy earthiness and still the ever-present berries. Like licking sweet sap from a smooth piece of tree bark. Warms the belly within the first few gulps. A solid barleywine for those lazy winter weekends of three days’ growth on the facial hair when a feeling like your tongue being tickled with light sandpaper doesn’t seem so bizarre.

2005 12oz. bottle from Aubrey. Pours out a light brown color with just a bit of opacity to it. A scant off-white head forms and fades out quickly leaving spotty lacing behind. Aroma is reminiscent of caramel, a hint of brown sugar. Hops don’t really hit the olfactory. Medium bodied, a bit thin at times with a fairly forward alcohol presence. Towards the finish a moderate hop bitterness appears to balance the malt flavors initially present. Fair BW. Just lacking in some areas that make me take notice.

Smells like molasses, which is always a good start. Honey, piney, thick, and a little sweet like a doppelbock. Different, but too sweet to be a top notch barleywine.

tap. Amber coloring with frothy creamy egg colored head. Oak barrel, port scent. Very smooth taste port, oak, hops. I picked up some orange. Bitter bite with dry aftertaste. Nice beer.