Bristol Old No. 23 Barley Wine

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

On cask @ Falling Rock 2004 vintage aged in a port barrel poured a cloudy amber with a lasting amber head. Aromas of toffee, carmel, dried fruit,and a hint of wood. Palate was light bodied and dry. Flavors of dark cherries, apple, vinous, and notes of wood with a dry bitter finish.

Cloudy copper with aromas of dried fruits and caramel, a lot of caramel. Still some hops are alive to balance out flavors of toast and crystal malts. Sticky sweet with a full body.

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.

This takes me back to the amount one uses for rating. Had it the other day at a tasting and thought it was "just good". This time I had an entire bottle (12 oz.) and really, really enjoyed it. From the same friend and trip, so I imagine it is the same age. Bottle has four years written on one edge, but I couldn't detect a marking that idicated which year - ?? Not that it matters other than thinking at the tasting it was more hop dominate and this time that it was just fabulous in being so rich and ful and malty and NOT too sweet or excesively hoppy. Okay, if it DID have just a teensy bit more bitterness I sure wouldn't complain, but don't want to suggest messing with what I like. Balanced to my liking. Loads of rich dark fruit. Could drink this one until I pass out, which at 11.25% doesn't seem all that hard.

Vintage 2002. From my own Barleywine tasting party in May of 2004. A garnet-copper color upon pour. Quite the hoppy aroma on this puppy. A little more carbonated than I like in my barleywine, but hey, that’s not so bad. Strange that the head retention is poor for such carbonation, but that’s also not a need in this style. Malt body is not so sweet, but has a strong hop character. Back of the tongue finishes roasted malt. The palate might be a little thin.

12oz Bottle. A vigorous pour yields a smallish head which settles to a thin layer of film. Beautiful color of reddish amber that is slightly cloudy. Vanilla, caramel and brandy aromas. Hops provide some fruitiness and compliment the malts perfectly. Body is full, chewy, syrupy and softly carbonated. Flavors are both hoppy and malty and really compliment each other which I find very enjoyable. Lasting bitterness in finish. Caramel, fruit and hops add much flavor. Alcohol although not overpowering in flavor is very warming. This is a Barley Wine I can get into. Thanks to Snowtiger for the sample.

2006 Bottle given to me by Chris, thanks and served in my Unibroue tulip: A rich deep copper and mahogany hue with a beautiful lasting tan foamy head that left excellent lace upon the glassware. The aroma has notes of caramel and toffee, sugar fruit candies, hint of tobacco and herbal hops, with some phenols. The taste starts malty and sweet with fruity undertones throughout. The hops play more towards the finish in the English style. A hint of cocoa bean, clove and peppermint leaf round out the flavor profile. The mouth feel is sticky and smooth with a subdued warming upon the finish. A very nice and should develop with age for 1-3 years to be a good example of the classic barley wines of Britain.

A nice tasting barley wine. The cloyingly flat mouthfeel causes a loss of points, as does the thin head and absence of much lace. But overall, this is still a pretty damn good barley wine. 11.25% not noticeable, or else I"m just becoming immune. Smells wonderful too. Bottom line: if I were you, and I saw this beer, I would buy it.