Dogfish Head Olde School Barleywine

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

Bottle courtesy of HogTownHarry - Many thanks! This is one of the last of the "big" well known DFH beers for me. Hazy orange amber with a small beige head. Big boozey aroma, mild orange citrus and light caramel notes in the aroma. Flovour is lightly malty with a hit of hoppy bitterness, mild caramel malt that comes out a bit more as it warms. Medium palate. Disappointing, it is overly boozey and lacks the depth I had hoped for. Perhaps some age would round out the alcohol a bit, but I don’t feel like this bottle had enough flavour to really do much even then. Perhaps an off batch? Oh well... pass the 90 Minute please!

The color was a foggy golden/orange. The head was fizzy and thin. There was a grape flavor with hints of apricot and citris. It was sweet and had a very strong alcohol flavor to it. The palate was watery and carbonated with strong alcohol tones. The finish was very warm.

Pours a yellow copper with a thin yellow head. The aroma smells like candy, very sweet citrus, some wine smell, muscadines?, sweet wine alcohol. The flavor is very dry and sweet, lots of alcohol, tastes like a complex dry/sweet wine. The palate is very dry and the finish is warm and dry. Excellent barleywine.

This is a very different beer. Very alcoholic on the nose and hoppy. Pours very clear for a barleywine and finishes a dry, champagne flavored beer. Completely different style of barleywine and as different as it is it is just as enjoyable.

2005 Bottle: Pours a tawny amber with loads of miniscule bubbles exploding from the bottom of my Duvel tulip. The nice frothy head quickly settles into a everlasting ring around the glass. I was really expecting nothing but ether and hops in the nose, but was surprised to find neither. The subdued aroma is slightly oxidized, with smallish notes of prune juice, caramel and peach. Rather borish for such a big beer and the body doesn’t compensate for the lackluster nose either. The body lacks carbonation, creating a sluggish, sweet drink that is heavy on the caramel malts and not much more. Maybe some sugary plums as well. This is almost wort-like in sweetness, yet not viscous. What a weird experience as it finishes sweet with no hint of the high ABV. Either my bottle isn’t up to snuff, or this beer automatically gets higher marks for being DFH and 15% ABV.

WOW! One of the best barley wines I’ve had. Pours dark brown with little head. The flavor is amazing.! A relatively think and sweet taste with a citriusy finish. The alcohol was very well masked by the flavor...I wish we could get Dogfish in MO.. I found for $11.99/4pack in NJ. A+

Not enough layered malt or intense hop to reach barleywine complexity. Just enough of each to make it passable. I would trade half the abv for more flavor. Re-Rate Feb ’07 - I was able to detect the hop and more of a complex malt- intense cinnamon. Worth a rating boost.

Nice aroma, I thought I detected citrus (orange), banana, fruit esters, maybe plum, and of course a strong alcohol presence. The light to medium body is very hazy with a medium orangish hue. It initially tastes sweet and smooth and finishes with a heavy alcohol bitterness. The finishing taste duration is average to long. Overall: a remarkably good tasting ale despite a whopping 15% alcohol. It reminds me more of a very strong Belgian ale than a barley wine but that is not a bad thing at all. A very impressive brew as is commonplace for Dogfish Head.