Carolina Brewery Old Familiar Barley Wine

on tap-pours a light tan head and dark copper/red color. Aroma is faint sweet medium malt, perfumy/sharp hops. Taste is sweet medium malt, sharp perfumy hops, medium fruit-brandy like. OK carbonation.

Tap. A hazy bronze color with a minimal head, at least by the time it reached the table. Sweet, malty aroma, mixed with a bit of alcohol. Complicated flavor of sweet malts and fruit undertones, just a little weak for a barleywine. I’m starting to like barleywines quite a bit, and this one is certainly not bad, just nothing exceptional.

On draught at the brewpub. Pour was copper with a small off white head. Nose was sweet malts, brown sugar. Flavor was a little weak, with citrus, vanila, and grassy hops. Not bad, but a littl bland. Nonetheless, a nice attempt by a local brewery.

Tap. Poured a reddish-black with a ceamy khaki head, that soon dissapeared with only a small residue of a head remaining. Aroma was of fruit and candied sugar. Flavor was...hm...complex. Definately fig flavor with some sweetness. This was my first barley wine.. will rerate after some more experience....but I was left impressed.

Snifter @ Brewpub. Good aroma, fruity, tobacco-ish. Raisin, date. gh6t-as my cat walks across the laptop, caramel, vanilla (like for cooking). Real nice dark reddish brown color, good fluffy head that slowly went to a ring, then to nothing. Bitter sweet flavor. Not unlike aroma, but I get a grapefruit/malty bitterness. Some caramel too. Medium body, sticky creamy mouthfeel, drying finish. Tasty BW that hides it strength well. At first I was thinking I wasn’t going to like it, but the subtleties grew on me as I sipped. Open up nicely as it warmed.

Draught during my NC brew tour. Pours quite dark for a barleywine, almost black in a dim lighting. A firm tan head sits atop. The nose is similar to a sweet cigar with hints of pear and apple peel. This is a fruity take on the style. Vanilla, apples, and leafy notes are in the flavor. Scotch and earth make for a sturdier balance. This is not that heavy for a barleywine, but it certainly isn’t a light-bodied brew. Very accessible yet complex. This could’ve been the best barleywine I had from NC on this trip. It certainly was one of the best.

12-oz. snifter. Pours a leathered dark cherrywood color with a surprisingly fluffy light beige head. Laces in droppy rings. Aromas of dark brown sugar, subtle fruitiness, and a spicy hop twang. Flavors are not of the sickly sweet and syrupy variety; this beer feels quite airy and spritzy for the strength. Dark fruits, brown sugar, a smidge of sugars, and crisp leafy hop notes complete the experience. Finishes with an ample amount of bitterness. Solid mouthfeel; again without any overbearing thickness. Quite drinkable. The ABV is shy in this one. Leans towards an English-version rather than a brash American one.