Dogfish Head Olde School Barleywine

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

I had Old Guardian by Stone followed by this. For a $7 12oz bottle I expected an amazing bouquet of thick flavors, making the 15% taste like nothing. I expected a wonderfully thick, sweet treat on my tastebuds. Oh boy was I wrong. This tastes like pure alcohol. The body is of a Dogfish Head: very good. But it tastes like crap. Seriously. Maybe I havn’t acquired a taste for this type of barelywine, but I could barely get it down. I understand making a 15% beer palatable isn’t an easy task, but it tastes like they didn’t even try. If you want a barelywine that is actually drinkable, I suggest Old Horizontal by Victory or Old Guardian by Stone.

Draft. Cider orange in color. No head. Very sweet, grape/raisin hints in aroma. Strong flavoring that washes to back of throat but gives way to sharper, lightly acidic finish on tongue.

Bottle. Beautiful amber color with a pretty minimal head that is now nothing but a little ring of white around the edges. Aromas are really pleasant: oak, pineapple and wet cardboard. Really warm with lots of alcohol present. A little thin mouthfeel for a barleywine. Brandy/scotch like... drink it slow.

2006 bottle enjoyed in 2007...appears to be an amber color...tiny bubbles gather on the surface, a very pretty beer..:)...honey and alcohol aromas...syrupy body with high alcohol flavor and a dry finish..!!!!-pure alcohol-!!!!...I love this brewery, but sadly I don’t enjoy this product...perhaps it’s the style of beer, I will investigate this further

12 oz. bottle. Pours a cloudy copper orange with a moderate off-white head that quickly disappeared. Initially very effervescent, but that quieted down after a few minutes. Very pleasant fruity aroma with malt and alcohol also present. From there it all went downhill. Not all that flavorful. There is some fruit flavors and a touch of malt, but that’s about it. I can’t say this beer was watery, but it certainly wasn’t full bodied either. Severe alcohol burn reminded of cheap sherry. A disappointing barley wine.

On tap @ Dogfish brewpub in Rehoboth, DE. Maybe it’s just me, and it very well could be because I don’t know s**t about Barleywines, but this stuff was not good at all. Tasted like a shot of vodka. I know it’s 15% but I thought I was drinking 80 proof. First and foremost was the alcohol taste and smell....and then there was not much else. Maybe I wrecked my pallate from several previous Randalized 90 minutes. Sad to say that i’m not at all impressed with this one.

Golden Orange with a small off white head. Aromas of sweet fruits and light alcohol. I nice mix of hops and malt make the 15% alcohol unnoticeabl. Drank along with Victory’s Old Horizontal. A great Barley Wine.

copper color with a very sweet aroma. very little head after the pour and quickly fades to nothing. taste is very sweet with raisons, plums and fades into a warming alcohol feel. not bad