Dogfish Head Olde School Barleywine

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

Bottle from Jakes bar and bistro Steilacoom, o6’ bottle... absolutely fantastic body to the brew, perfect head for a 3 year old beer and still has a huge hop, malt and is so complex! Age your beers!!!

Bottled in 2007 Pours a beautiful golden honey tinged copper color. Slow pour produces a big head of light brown/dark tan super creamy foam. Retention is great. Lacing is beautiful, super sticky and continues all the way down the glass. Fruits relaxing in a rum bath. Big notes of candi sugar. Hints of caramel and oak. Leather notes. Cherries, apples and a slice of pineapple. Figs. Hints of toasted grains mingling with sweet malts. Mmmmm. Raisins, pears, apples and apricots, covered in sticky honey and candi sugars. Light hints of caramel with a very light touch of vanilla. Nice malty presence. I like this one, now, but I’m sure it will continue to become better with even more age. With the head that this produced, I thought that the carbonation level would have helped the body on this one. Sadly, I was wrong. This is actually a rather thin brew, and I think it would benefit from a thicker mouthfeel. But, maybe that’s just me. I think that this is a highly enjoyable and drinkable brew. While there is a level of warmth here, the 15%ABV is very well-hidden. I also think that it will continue on to become even more drinkable, the longer it is allowed to age. Man, I sure do love Dogfish Head.

this is probably the most unbalanced barley wines...no head, no carbonation, reddish brown pour...this is so sweet and boozy its like drinking liquid cotton candy...not a big fan of this one

The pour has almost no head but there is a nice aroma of sweet raisins and a bit of rum. Initial taste has some strong dark fruit and molasses. The body is fairly light but nonetheless the mouthfeel is pleasant with the light carbonation. After a year of aging, this is still a beer with a lot of attitude and tumultuousness that may not be tempered for quite a while longer. If you like a barleywine thats hot to start off with then you’ll like this. If you like a nice pleasant english-style barleywine then look elsewhere.

Bottle from last year’s release. Pours a hazy crimson ruby brown with a medium yellowed white head that falls off quickly. Sweet old plum and prune, oxidized caramel. Sweet, apples, oxidized malt. Boozy finish with lots of long burning alcohol. Still too hot and tough to drink.

Draft. 5 oz flight. Pours opaque caramel with a hazy, creamy ciderish tan head. Aroma of apples, cinnamon, raisins, vanilla, caramel, and hints of pepper, hops, and bread. Warm, sumptious mouthfeel. Long, slow-burning finish with a touch of a bite. Absolutely excellent barley wine.

Tried a sample of vintage 2004 at Brewfest Tallahassee. Oddly enough, I could still easily sense booze in the flavor, even after 5 years. However, it’s crazy complex, very sweet and full of dark fruits. Though it’s toting the label "American" barleywine, the hops are gone after all this time... quite sweet.

12 oz. bottle served in a snifter. Bottle conditioned. Poured a hazy amber with a quickly dissipating white head. Fairly alcoholic nose. Plenty of malt sweetness as well. A little port-like oxidation. Full bodied and a little syrupy. Very sweet with some dark fruit flavors. Plenty of hop bitterness, but not enough to balance the sweetness. Seemed under attenuated.