Dogfish Head Olde School Barleywine

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

has a sugary hoppy aroma to it, powerful sugary, kinda candy caneish with some type of fruits mixed in there. dry tingly slight alcohol aftertaste. you have to appreciate its taste given the high abv.

A treat from my Secret Santa. 12 oz bottle, 2006 I assume. Pours a good looking amber color with WAY more carbonation than I expected (sounded like soda while I was pouring it), yet it had minimal head. The aroma was somewhat disappointing in that I noted some medicinal hints underneath more enjoyable scents like figs, dates, Belgian candy sugar, raisons, and hints of honey. A sweet smell. The flavor had distinct sherry like alcohol, dates, sticky malt, again Belgian candy hints. Sadly the flavors did not do it for me and I truly thought I was getting some medicinal hints again. The body was semi-dry and full. All and all, I hope this gets better with age. I have a 2004 bottle that I will try later and find out.

2004 botlle. The aroma seems much imporved wtih tons of sugared fruit like dates, raisons, and such along wtih brandy and sherry boozyness. Obviously sweet though. Flavor was still not what I had hoped for. Still too sweet (cloying). interestingly a dry finish that I don’t recall before. Some improvement in score but not significantly.

Aromas are of hops, sweet malts and alcohol.Pours a dark copper with a big white head.Lots of alcohol in the flavor.Mouthfeel is medium with a very hot finish.

Bottle - 2004. From the second you open the bottle you can tell that it’s going to be a big beer. Aroma is huge on toffee malt sweetness and alcohol. As things warm up a bit, dark fruit begins to make itself known, but the alcoholic nostril tinge is a bit overwhelming. Flavor starts out with flavors of sweet malts and oak, followed up with a thorough working over by the alcohol. Not as hot as some beers, but the hops don’t do there job balancing this out. The only finish is a sweet cloying alcoholic burn, with little if any noticeable bitterness. Not a bad brew, but definitely not a session beer by any means.

Bottle - 2006. Another Dogfish Head beer I have been looking forward to trying. Pours a reddish amber with a white head on top. Aroma is full of sweet fruit and malt. Raisins, figs, dates, caramel and alcohol come to the nose. Flavor is full of malt with caramel coming through with raisins. Burning from the alcohol comes in early with the first touch to the tongue. Starts and finishes sweet. This beer definitely needs age with the strong alcohol burn.

Bottle (12oz - 2006 vintage). Clear, bright, refractive ruby-amber with a small frothy off-white head. Aroma of apricots, ripe plantains, cedar, alcohol and fresh herbal hops - very, very malty. Taste is nice and restrained - hint of old wood resin, sambuca, ripe tart fruits (persimmon); floral. Average body, slick, syrupy, astringent and alcoholic mouthfeel, decent life, no aftertaste but a bit of a strong alcoholic after-burn. Something of a sippin’ barleywine - solid. 15%? - wow.

Bottled on 11/10/05. Slightly cloudy, light nut brown color with a cream colored head. Aroma of figs, vanilla, oak, caramel malts, toffee, butter, slightly salty, alcohol in the back, hops. Really smooth flavor. Subtle bitterness with great malt character - creamy, toffee, vanilla, alcohol, slightly woody. A tad syrupy, but that’s not a bad thing for a winter beer. A nice barley wine. I love the style, and this is a solid example. A little too sweet to be called balanced, but still, another great DFH.

12 oz brown bottle. Bottled on 10/16/06.

slightly viscous pour. Hazy amber, with a small short lived head.

Aroma is sweet malty and fruity. Caramel, figs, gooey dates, honey, touch of orange.

Flavor is sweet caramel, light fruit, honey with a solid citrusy hop bite.

High abv is noticeable. Slight burn in the mouth and on the way down. Other than that, solid beer.