Dogfish Head Olde School Barleywine

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

12 oz bottle, 2008 vintage. Pours clear reddish-copper, with a dense, sticky short-lived head which can be rejuvenated by swirling. Aroma is floral sweet with fruit (prune, raisin) and some brandy-ish booze (but not overwhelmingly). Similar flavor profile - heavy on the sweet malty and fruity notes at the very start, but that is quickly blasted out by the alcohol, which leaves me with a cough medicine vibe. Medium full bodied and syrupy, but hot. A really promising brew (no surprise from Dogfish Head) that needs a couple years to sit.

Bottle, 11-21-08. I got very little from this beer other than bold alcohol with slight edges of raisins and prunes. I shall not be opening up another bottle of it for at least a year, though I really do not have expectations for it for another couple of years. Really needs to both develop on the malt front and smooth out on the alcohol front.

12oz and 750ml bottle.Pours a orangish, pink in color with no head. Smell is malty with big alcohol. Flavor of sweet and fruity malts throughout, woody, citric and piney hops, toasted and caramel malts, sweet overall, alcohol toward and at finish, warms well. A deliciuos barleywine.

Bottle. A translucent, orange copper pour with a substantial off white head that remains throughout the beer lacing the glass. The nose smells strongly of alcohol and citrus-y hops, with sweet, dark fruit underneath, perhaps plums and prunes and raisins. Flavor is broken up into three distinct sections: first bright and strong orange peel, followed by stewed plums and port wine, finishing with darker flavors like raisins and dates backed by the bitterness of the initial citrus peel. all the while the taste of the alcohol comes through. its consistency is thick and syrupy. a solid beer, great for winter nights and sharing.

12 oz bottle. Slightly hazy, copper orange body with a thin off-white head. Aroma is caramel malt, dry fruit and alcohol. Flavor is sweet malt, caramel, dry fruit, some citrus fruit, brown sugar raisins and warming alcohol. The finish is sweet and somehow bitter, but not really hop bitter, the hops is mostly citrus aroma. The definitive crossover between a big American and a sweet Belgium. Barleywine? well cant find anything more appropriate so it might do.

Bottle. Pours a nice orangish, amber color with a really large, white, frothy head. Aromas of grapes, wine, dates, and port. Slick start, creamy middle, strong finish. Tastes like a really good wine initially and then finishes more like a beer. Fantastic!

Bottle. Pours a clear light brown with a very small white head. Aroma of sweet fruits, apple, and alcohol. Flavor of sweetness initially, followed by some acetone and alcohol. The alcohol definitely gets to you and there is a real alcohol burn in the swallow. Drinkable but is it enjoyable? Hard to say...

08 bottle. Rich, thick pour with tiny offwhite head. deep copper, looking like a heavy-handed redish lager. Nose is crisp and boozy, taste is remarkably crisp but with a heavy malt and dark sticky fruit rush. Breath through the nose and get real wafts of alcohol. Very hot. Not exactly refined but a good deal and quite interesting. I look forward to an aged bottle