Dogfish Head Olde School Barleywine

Brewed by Dogfish Head Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Milton, Delaware USA

This is a interesting Barleywine. It looks great, a clear amber with not much of a head. Enough alcohol in the nose to make me think it’s a brandy, with some honey. When I taste it, I get a heavy sweet with a counter of sourness, vanilla maltiness and the sting of the alcohol. Nice full mouthfeel, too. A very special beer. I am so lucky. Good finish.

12 oz bottle courtesy of PhillyBeer2112. Not sure on the vintage, I believe Dan mentioned this was an ’05 or ’06 - I know it was part of the Boboski stash which was dispersed amongst the Florida folks. Huge malt aromas burst from the bottle immediately upon popping the cap. Pour into a snifter is an only slightly hazed orange ruby with a smallish tan head. Head falls quickly to just a few bubbles. Classic looking Barley Wine. Aroma of sweet caramel malt, brown sugar, a bit of floral honey way in the back. Booze is present, but subdued. Nice nose, quite engaging. Taste is big caramel sweet biscuit maltiness, turning to bright fruit (dark cherry) sweetness, then moves into the hot alcohol. The brown sugar is also present in the flavor. Nice, though not nearly as nuanced and delicate as I was expecting from the nose. Palate is on the heavier side, though avoids being cloyingly sweet, which is actually quite an accomplishment. Finish is long, grassy, sweet and hot. Overall, this was a nice sipper. Thanks for sending it my way Dan!

12oz. 05 vintage. Pour is a golden amber with little to no head. It looks like apple juice/cider in the glass. Aromas of oak, sweet fruits, alcohol, caramel, and apples. Flavor is very bold with warming alcohol, sweet malts, apples, and a slight musty funk. Very nice overall, but this one is a slow sipper.

Pours amber red with a thin white head. Aroma of caramel, alcohol, sugar, and berries. Flavor is more caramel, malt, sugary fruit, a hint of alcohol, and berries. Like a fine liquor. Delicious.

Pours a ruby amber with a small off-white head. Very nice aroma of caramel malts, brown sugar, toffee, and alcohol. Tastes like a fine cognac at room temperature with a huge caramel base and some strong candy sugary sweetness. Almost no hops. The heat of the alcohol lingers and swells with a diminishing sweetness on the tongue. A pleasure.

Obvious fig and date aroma although it didn’t pop out and say it was conditioned on figs and dates, it was the normal dried fruit aroma found in a barlywine. poured a dark tan with about a quarter inch of head, that didn’t hang around for long probably because of the high abv. flavor was good up front lots of dried fruit with earthy character from the yeast, some caramel and melanoidins. Melanoidins have to be from a long boil if this is truly 100% Marris Otter. In the middle it gets kind of medicinal and boozy mixing with the figgy taste, which was okay. Finish was mostly alcohol with other flavors from earlier intermingled. Not my favorite, but not bad.

Clear copper pour with about 1 fingers worth of loose off-white head that quickly fades to a small ring. Deep malty aroma with lots of dark fruit, orange peel, cinnamon, ripe bananas, molasses, and a little pine. Lots of over ripe fruit, fig and orange peel flavor with a burnt caramel malt backbone and a vinous yet faintly bitter finish. Sticky medium-full body with lots of carbonation and a pronounced alcohol warming. This would pair nicely with roquefort cheese or a feillet mignon smothered in bernaise sauce.

On tap at Toronado barleywine fest ’09. A good one, but what else would you expect from DFH? Orangish-brown color with a white head. Aroma of sweet malt, banana, and citrus with noticeable alcohol (it is 15%). Flavor is really sweet caramel malt on the start with some honey, followed by citrus, white wine, and alcohol, but not as much as you’d expect from the ABV. Nice palate, fairly full-bodied.