Dark Horse 3 Guy Off the Scale Old Ale

Brewed by Dark Horse Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Marshall, Michigan USA

Some mysterious older vintage. Possibly a 2001. #200 in Michigan. Aroma erupts with caramel, raisin toast and older brown sugars. Light oxidation somehow lends maturity, then lean on some sweet fruit esters for a complex bouquet in the nose. Pours a clouded amber with tan fringes. No head. Flavor is a rich, dense fruit creamed malt with astounding richness and full flavor. Brandy, fruit compotes, more raisin bread, and a smack of Indian Curry spices. Rich and toasty. Still virile as an older bottle, with some heat, but really for 15% it’s damn near camouflage. Tingles the nostrils a little. Nice leafy noble hop smack and nips of light chocolate out the backdoor. Awesome.

Pours a hazy reddish brownish with the thinnest vail of foam. Aroma is of brown sugar, fortified wine, hard caramel, and melon. Flavor is of brown sugar, grape, backed by firm hoppy bitterness hops that almost balances the huge maltiness. Very full bodied with a slightly silky slightly sticky palate. Bitterness slowly dries away the maltiness in the aftertaste.

20061111 Sampled at Cornboy’s 1st Annual Barley Wine Extravaganza
#12 2004 Aroma is juicy with fresh fruits, pears, grapes. Perhaps a bit young still, the finish was medicinal and harsh, huge, with vicious alcohol (isopropylish) that you would think would be so noticeable after 11 other samples of barley wines. Harsh flavor detracts from great aroma but lends promise to this beers longevity.

12oz bottle, cellar aged approx. 18months. man it was a extremely hard to get the wax off. for me, another hated dark horse label here. pours clear but dense dark red with small, spotty/soapy white head. the color looks great. aroma is like a fine port wine, lots of sweet caramel, nuts, raisins, cherry, raspberries, with a hint of alcohol. nose is fantastic. flavor is nice caramel, plums, raspberries, chocolate, that culminates in a nice nutty cookie finish. alcohol doesn’t bite the does contribute an off puting warm cloyingly sweet flavor in the middle. this is doing really well right now but it could use that slight oxidation note. as this warms a lot more alcohol comes through in nose and taste. i’m guessing the 4 year mark should be nice.

12oz bottle from Silphium/Styles. One for the cellar, one for now. This monster beer pours dark auburn with almost no head, viscous and ruddy like gasoline. Caramel in the aroma underscores toast, bitter hops, artichoke and olives, sherry, brandy, plum, grape... the list goes on. Fantastic complexity. Very neutral and green taste, still strong on the hops after one year+ in the bottle, pungent and boozy. Not nearly as much complexity, but surprisingly downplayed and mellow for a beer this big. This beer is still really hot. Luckily I’ve got another one of these babies for the cellar, as this one is gonna be fantastic in, oh, 4 or 5 or 20 years.

Re-rate. On tap. Pours cloudy ruby brown color, devoid of any head. Aroma is sweet malts, alcohol,citrus, dried fruit, pear. Flavor is sweet malts, raisins, brown sugar, cherries, alcohol, citrus. Palate is full bodied, very warm, dry finish. This just grabs you and kicks you in the nuts! Monster of a beer, and I love it.

Brown with Orange Hue..No Head. Syrapy Caramel Malt Aroma. Syrpay Rich Malt...Alot of Warming..Understandable Given it’s 15%...But Yet Still Very Balanced...Hoppy Bitterness to Keep This Brew on the Ground...Dry Tongue Burning Aftertaste... Overall Pretty Amazing Balance for a BW That High in Alc. Kudos for Going Extreme...On the Flip Side, a Hard Drinking Barleywine.

Bottle via trade with artusory, thanks again! Amber-brown pour with a short white head. Candied fruit, vanilla, bready malt and some oak make up the pungent aroma. Flavors of vanilla, booze, candied fruit, oak, and caramel malt come through. Sweet in the front with some dry woodiness in btween breaking up the flavor a bit making it fell a bit more complex and not too sweet. Bittersweet/woody finish. Some minor kinks...it is a bit hot, but still a really nice brew.