Fish Tale Old Woody English Old Ale

Brewed by Fish Brewing Company/Leavenworth Beers
Style: Old Ale
Olympia, Washington USA

22oz bottle from drewbeerme. Clear red/amberin color with small head. Aroma of sweet caramel and malt. The taste was the same with light wood/mild hop finish. Alittle syrupy but that’s o.k. Very Good beer.

355ml brown bottle. Label states abv is 9.5% abv. No date on label, assuming it’s an ’06. Colour is reddish brown. There is some haze and small particles in suspension. The head is tight, small and beige in colour, it fades quickly leaving a faint ring around the glass, no lacing. Aroma has a lot of sweet malt with notes of caramel, some alcohol, and strangely enough a hint of grape gum. Flavour is again quite malty, a bit nutty, caramel malt, some woody notes, brown sugar. In the finish there is some alcohol, and some light hops. Woody dryish aftertaste with lingering citrus bitterness. Medium body, fine carbonation. A nice companion in the Alberta winter months.

’05 (from drewbeerme) vs. ’06. Dirty amber color, beige soapy head. The 06 has a light malty aroma, not very prominent especially when compared to the 05’s sweeter malty aroma with brown sugar, dark fruits, and candied sugar - very inviting. The 06 is medium to light bodied - woody, malty, somewhat light flavors finishing oaky. The 05 is right off much sweeter, going to a syruppy almost barleywine concentration of flavors with carmel, dark fruits, and vanilla. Finishes oaky bitter and a little syruppy with the alcohol coming out in the back. The 06 isn’t bad but the 05 is a completely better beer. Ratings are for the 05.

05 (12oz) versus 06 (22oz from holdenn). 05 - pours a dense amber/copper hue with nice head. aroma has some sweet malts, brown sugar, caramel, toffee, dark fruits/sweet raisons and plum. flavor has is very caramelly, really sweet very malty, with notes of dark fruits, vanialla and oak. smooth carbination and mouthfeel. a very nice old ale. 7/4/7/4/15.
06 - appearance is same as 05. aroma is very faint compared to 05. some fresher hops come in more and a sweet malt aroma. flavor is a mess of candied fruits, brown sugar, mild hop presence, plums and raisons, oaky, vanilla, sorta too sweet. flavor is not nearly as balanced as the 05. hardly any alcohol presence. a drinkable old ale but reminds more of an american strong and the 05 was more of an old ale/barleywine. 5/4/5/3/14. Score entered is from the 05 (1 year old).

From a 22 oz. bomber bottle with no bottling/freshness date, purchased in November 2006. Poured a ruby red hued brown with a small foamy off-white head that settled into a thin bubbly lacing. Aromas of nutty, lightly roasted caramel with a light chocolate, grainy, vanilla woodiness, mild fruity esters, and an earthy spiciness. Moderate carbonation and a malty crisp, creamy smooth medium bodied mouthfeel. Pleasant tasting, nutty, lightly roasted sweet caramel and chocolate malts with a touch of sugar, a toasted graininess, a woodiness with a bare vanilla that mingles with the spicy alcohol, the alcohol is also warming in the palate, slightly buttery, a mild earthy spicy hoppiness, a subtle English fruitiness, and a dryish yeasty, malty finish. A good attempt at a English Olde Ale, good sipping drinkability, well worth trying.

Thanks IBrew2or3. Very cloudy murky brown that had chunks floating around. Very bitter and fruity aroma. Very barleywine like, very bitter, lots of citrus hops, dark fruits, alcohol was big. Basically a barleywine.

12 oz bottle. Cloudy amber leaning towards light brown, with lots of yeast chunks settling at the bottom of my glass.

Aroma is light caramel, raisin, alcohol, pine.

Flavor is pine, oak, toffee. Some light wine flavors show up when paired with some Parmesan cheese.

This beer was much better with food than it was on it’s own. I will be aging a couple for a year or so and see what happens.

aged 6 mo. in wood wine barrels! Big and complex. Clearly would benefit from further aging but damn good as is. Leathery, rustic yet creamy smooth vinous aspect. Oak, pine resin, prune, grape/rasin. Almost candy like but not too sweet.