Dogfish Head Olde School Barleywine

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

09 Bottle from downtown crown. Pours see-thru copper/orange with minimal white head. Nose is surprisingly hoppy grapefruit drowning out anything else. Flavor is rich smooth fine ale on the citrus/hoppy side. Goes down and finishes similar to some ice wines I’ve tried. Very complex and elegant even though grapefruit hops seem to dominate. This will surely mature into something even more amazing.

Pours a hazy apple cider-orange cololr with a bit of thin white head. Aroma is a bit faint to me but reminds me of sweet dry fruits. Very moderate flavor for such a strong beer; Sweet, then hoppy, then dry, leaving you thisting for more.

2006 bottle that I’m just getting around too. dirty orange pour with a thin off-white head... the end result is some murky looking stuff. Aroma is pungent... boozey heat, orange zest, booze soaked dark fruits, bready malt. Flavors feel nice and restrained, I imagine things must have smoothed out over the past few years as I imagine this was once quite hot if the aroma is any indication. Sweet/sticky caramel, ample but not overpowering booze, distant burnt citrus flavors. Typical thick English style barley wine body, soft carbonation with a bitter/toasty/boozey/perhaps slightly burnt finish. Overall pretty good, some of the flavors seem a little out of balance making it a bit of a roller coaster. I’m glad I put so much age on it, can’t imagine what the heat was like three years ago. I have a few from this year left, might crack one or two of a brutal winter day in January.

Thank you for making this DFH. This barleywine is wonderful. Pours a dark copper color with a smal off white head. Plums, spruce, figs, and dates run straight into your nose upon pouring. The taste is much the same with some hops, sweet malty barley, and a tad bit of cherry. The alcohol is apparent after downing this things and definitely warms you the entire time. It is pretty well hidden in the actual taste which is surprising for 15% abv. A great brew.

Bottled. Dark orange with medium white head. Aroma of heavy caramel, wild citrus and fruit (most notably sour apple, orange, and pear), also booze. Flavor is caramel, vanilla, more sweet fruits like plum and peach (maybe the dates and figs but I can’t exactly remember what they taste like) and heavy booze with a dry ting throughout. Big bad and beautiful.

About as perfect a barley-wine ale as one could ask for. The incredible thing about balley wines is that each brewer’s barley wine tastes distinctive from that of other brewers. This one pours the dark copper of an old penny, and the aroma hits you even before you pour the glass--very sweet, like everything Christmasy, including cherries and plums with some hint of dough and spruce. Flavor fits the aroma perfectly--again, plums, cherries, spruce, resin, floral. This one is mostly malt with just a hint of hops, and the alcohol is hidden behind an initial sweetness but eventually begins to burn through (in a good way) as the ale warms up. It makes me happy.

08 Bottle. POurs amber orange. Nose is hot alcohol, sweet sugary fruits, plum, apple, toffee, caramel, pine hops and some citrus. Flavor is hot booze, sticky caramel, toffee, fruity esters, apples, cherry.

Bottle: color was lighter than I was expecting. Light brown/amber with nice white head. Fruity, medicinal arouma. I do taste some figs and prunes, which add to the sweet malt character. Obviously the alcohol takes over the taste though. Not a huge fan of the style, but this is not bad. I might buy another bottle and try aging it.