Dark Horse 3 Guy Off the Scale Old Ale

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

Pours a dark ruby red with a small off white head that lingers and nice small bubbles. Aroma is very strong prune and plum notes. Some bit of spice and alcohol are also present but mainly very sweet. Flavor starts very malty and extremely rich with the same sort of fruit of prune and plum but with a creamy and sugary sweetness that fills the mouth and sticks to the tongue. Alcoholic finish but still rather smooth because of the sweet thickness. Full body and very rich. Nice barley wine all around but a little too much on the alcohol which is apparent.

Bottle at GABF 2008. Hazy amber coloured with a medium sized off white head. Sweet aroma of dried fruits and caramel with notes of cookies. Very sweet flavour of dried fruits, sherry, cookies and hops. Light hoppy finish. Well hidden alcohol.

Bottle from lb4lb. Thanks, Deniz!
Pours a deep tea mahogany with an aroma of chocolate-covered plumb and raisin. A hint of musty red wine quickly dissipates. Flavor is smoky raisin and red wine-infused chocolate. Traces of bready pudding seem to be whimpering in the background. Maple syrup flavors and texture are coming to the forefront as the beer warms. Thick, lingering film left on the palate after every sip. I wonder what aging would do to this beer. Fantastic in taste and complexity.

10/2/2008: Bottle from Discount Liquors. Tough wax on the cap, but once I pop it off it a sweet aroma flows from the ruby brown glass and thin off white soapy head. Sweet and fruity nose. Dark fruit, cherries, brown sugar, toffee, and a touch of alcohol. An aged musty note. Syruppy smooth body. The sweet cherry, dark fruits, and burnt malt flavors begin to be impinged with alcohol. Bitter and charred finish with a little booze hanging around. But at 15% ... the alcohol is really well hidden.

Pour is copper with a brown head. Aroma of caramel and sweet candy sugar. Bit of booze as well. Flavor is sweet but pleasent. Alcohol is there too although it works well. Nice beer.

Bottle from Sprinkle, probably about 3 years old. Bottom of cap had rust! Pours deep murky amber with a beige head. Doughy caramel and fruity ester aroma with a hint of must. Full bodied with a rich earthy texture. Flavor or sugary malts, cherry, and choc chip cookie. Hops have pretty much faded into the beer, but in a good way. Alcohol extremely well hidden. This has aged well, perhaps due to the wax top.

Bottle that Sean pulled out of nowhere (I think this one had been in orbit for the past 3 years). Pours out a nice red color with a nice tan colored head on it. Smell is sweet, fruity, NO alcohol at all. Some cherry flavors. Taste was smooth, easy to drink, but it packed quite a punch in the long run. Cherries, sherry, sweet malts, no alcohol, all of this is present. One hell of a beer from Dark Horse here. Thanks for sending this one back to Earth Sean.

I completely inverted the 12oz. bottle as I poured, and still most of the yeast stayed at the bottom of the bottle. The bottle is undated and dipped in wax. The body is a clear amber. Aroma of cherry and pineapple. Hops contribute some citrus and pine. Oh, and lots of alcohol. Taste is fruity and alcoholic. Think cherries, pineapples, raisins, and maybe some dates, soaked in various rums and Everclear. Perhaps more hops would balance this somewhat. Mouthfeel is thick and syrupy, coating too. Drinkability is not so good. I won’t have another tonight, but I have 11 more to drink later on. Maybe some age will calm the alcohol. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 11-24-2005 06:48:28 Edit: 2005s are drinking really well now.