Carolina Old 392 Barleywine Style Ale

Brewed by Carolina Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Holly Springs, North Carolina USA

From notes 11/29/05: CBC’s first foray into the Popped Cap field at 9.3%. Usual CBC seasonal label with dot-matrixed info upon it: 9.3% Alc by Vol, Bot 11/22/05. Purchased 11/23/05 at the brewery. Tasted 11/28/05. Less than a week from bottler to gullet. Mmmmm... Pours a ruddy amber color with a milky tan globule of foam floating lazily on top. Concrete ring of bubbles surrounds the ink blot test in the middle. Hazy, murky. Illuminated from within. A pearlized Christmas tree bulb. Thin lacing. Extraordinarily pungent aromas of hops. Heavy oils of hop character. Sticky pine sap. Freshly cut Watauga County mountain Christmas tree, with sticky gooey innards clinging to your gloves and bow-saw blade. Fruitiness begins the tasting. Resinous lacquer coats the palate. Warming alcohol tingles the tongue. Heavy malt bill shows: chewy caramels and warm doughiness. Ample hop cones newly crushed dust your mouth with their yellow bitter insides. Bold aftertaste. Super-hopped character fits the bill. Rugged aftertaste post-swallow of hops, hops, and hops. Fantastic hop burps. Mouthfeel seems a bit timid. Not a "huge" beer at all. Very drinkable. An easy-drinking barleywine. The 9.3% is mischievous and lays in wait in the shadows. The case will be tapped into quite easily and readily.

Draught at 42nd St Oyster Bar in Raleigh, NC. Clear orange color with creamy off white head. Big flowery hop aroma that comes out again in the flavor. Accompanied by cotton candy, alcohol, citrus, and caramel flavors. Very well done.

Bottle poured into snifter. Dark red-orange appearance. This beer is dangerously drinkable with a smooth malt backbone with piney hops in front. It may be a little thin for some people’s tastes, but I like it a lot.

Initial big hop nose takes your head back. Head lasts well for a 9% beer. Nice copper color. Great hop flavor and bitterness balanced with maltiness in this excellent American-style Barley Wine.

This one pours deep copper with aroma of caramel malt, big hops, citrus and tropical fruit. The hopcitric elements overshadow the tropical fruit elements, but I was impressed by the balance and intensity of this one. In another life, this one could indeed be called an IIPA. However you choose to categorize it, it is very good.

Carolina Seasonal on the label, with the actual information etched over it...dripped from bottle into an Urthel chalice, it’s a lovely thing. Clear, bright crimson, with a solid 1/2 " of off-white foam. Deep, fruity nose, berry and grape, rich and sublime, resembling cognac at times, cabernet at others. Taste: Big, bold, thick, powerful, a killer on the palate, slipping sweet malty goodness all over the mouth. Big...I lost my train of thought, but I can assure you that the urge to employ that adjective will come up again and again,... it’s getting mellower now, but the strength of it’s character remains large and in charge...bright fruit, palpable texture, full body, long, slick fruity finish. Very tasty, with the alcohol more evident further in, but it’s warming and welcome in the chill of December....a nice nightcap, for sure...A very individualistic barleywine, not quite like any I’ve tried before. And very fresh, consumed less than two weeks from bottling! Wonder what some age would do to it? That’s a question for another day, and another quest, as well, but for the time being, I have about1 1/2 ounces left in my glass, and will slowly savor them, before toddling off to slumber. Goodness, it’s a good ’un...popping the cap couldn’t have happened to a nicer state! Cheers, North Carolina!

Thanks to Josh for sharing this. Pours a translucent golden amber with a smaller white bubbly head. Aroma of fresh hop pellets, citrus, pine, lots of caramel malt and some dark fruits. Flavor of pine, grapefruit, lots of lingering hop bitterness, caramel malt, some alcohol and various fruitiness. More of a double IPA than a barleywine...a great beer either way!

8.7% ABV, bottled on 11/21/06. The aroma was malty and lightly alcoholic with a citrusy hop character and a bit of a floral note. The hops became a bit grassy as the head fell back. The amber brew had a moderate off-white head which fell slowly and laced the glass. The flavor was quite bitter with a piney and grassy hop presence coupled with citrusy grapefruit and a bit of orange. Malt chimed in to assist with the balance and although quite prevalent the beer still succumbed to bittering and hop flavor. The body was medium full and with a moderate level of carbonation the mouthfeel was creamy. A nice barleywine, more in common with a Double IPA, but still a very good brew. 12 ounce bottle.