Flying Dog Horn Dog Barley Wine

Brewed by Flying Dog Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Frederick, Maryland USA

355ml bottle. pours with a decent head for a barley wine then dies down to a millimeter lacing is not to shabby either. smells like malty caramelly goodness, taste is pretty full bodied but quite smooth and the alcohol is well hidden. bitterness kind of hides in the background?

12oz bottle. Pours a thick, cloudy, deep ruddy brown w/ subtle orange/red/brown highlights and a thin, light tan head. The aroma is big and malty - lots of toffee and caramel with some sweet chocolate, vinous bitter fruit, and subtle smoke. There is some citrus - like orange candy - and alcohol in there, too. The flavor starts malty with a subtle woodiness, lots of sweetness, and some bitter fruit qualities. There is a lot of caramel. This beer is very malty with hints of smoke, a firm hoppy bitterness and subtle notes of spice. The finish has a big bitterness, some bitter flavor from ethanol, and chocolate-covered caramel - mixed with some spice, dark fruit, alcohol, and smoke. The mouthfeel is full in body with somewhat low carbonation. The carbonation is low enough to keep the texture viscous and full with no spritziness but not low enough to feel flat or syrupy. The bubbles are noticeable, just not particularly lively. Overall -much better than I remember (I first had Horn Dog in 2001 or 2002 and at that time it was cloying and hard to drink). This was a drinkable barley wine - not too much caramel or cloying sweetness, not too much hot alcohol flavor.

2008 vintage. Ruddy red-purple color with a thin layer of tan head that leaves only a ring of lasting foam. Cherries and powerful alcohol aroma over a heavy syrupy body. Some brown sugar maltiness, caramel, bready and dark fruits. Alcohol not as apparent as the nose, then a slight hoppiness hidden under the sweet malt finish.

’’Smells OK. At first not as bad as many grain wines. Strong, thick alky coating mouthfeel without fizz. Should this be sold in the PLCB state store? A big beer without much carbonation. Finish could trigger my gag reflex. On style mah fah. s5L3f2t3o5’’

Pours brown with a thin off white head. Smells of sweet malt, some citrus, tea. Tastes very tea like with some dark fruity hints.

This one did not do it for me....slight caramel taste, some malty overtones and a pinch of pumpkin pudding/sweet potato/apple...slight winey character....this one had a few good points (although practically zero smell) but all the small good ponts never added up to anything truly great. Seemed a bit steely to me and I just could not grasp it to the point of full enjoyment.

355 ml bottle from premier gourmet. fall 2007 bottling. brown/amber pour with a small tan head that is gone quickly. nice big malty nose but alcohol and sweetness ruin it. the flavour is overly sweet and filled with butterscotch aka diacetyl. mmmmm. rich full mouth of diacetyl goodness. way down hill after the aroma. im not likely to buy this one again.

(Bottle (2007) from McKean and Charles) Sweet, hot and sticky...Pours dark brownish amber with a fleeting wisp of biege head that disappears quickly. Appears rather flat and still. Aroma of candyish malt, fairly sharp pine and some grapefruit. Mouthfeel fairly smooth but kind of big and sticky. Syrupy palate with only a little bit of carbonation. Syrupy film coats inside of snifter along with some fine rings of lacing that melt away quickly. Tastes sweet with a pretty strong dose of rock candy maltiness and a very light hint of smokiness. Some piney and grapefruity hoppiness overlays the sticky sweetness with bitterness building toward finish and providing a rather mild (for the style) bite. ABV not particularly well-hidden. Drinkable but not enough complexity for a really good barleywine.