Flying Dog Horn Dog Barley Wine

Pours a muddy apricot amber, with light haze and almost no head. Sort of an ominous looking potion. Aroma is more hoppy than any other Barley Wine I have had. Smells much more similar to an ASA than a Barley Wine. Palate is smooth and soft then builds to a bigger taste by mid-palate. Flavor is really hard to describe, unfortuately. When Horn Dog hits your lips it comes across as gently malty, perhaps complemented with some salted nuts, and milk chocolate. It is quite muddy, really. Towards the finish, a firmly alcoholic note appears out of nowhere to disrupt an otherwise solid blend of fruit and hops. Finish is spicy, yet the flavor that lingers in your mouth is not particularly sharp. I am just now finishing this beer without yet wrapping my head around it. I’ll settle for saying that while it is tasty and easily drinkable, many crucial aspects of this Barley Wine fail to materialize into anything very memorable.

Horn dog pours a nice dark golden brown with a small fading head and that’s a-ok! Nose is of caramel, slight chocolate, and a faint citrus. flavor is very smooth, and it seems as though the hops really want to come thru. Think toasted caramel,light nut,married with a hint of dark chocolate. Nice and full bodied with a long finish. Great now & i can only imagine better with age!

Aroma is rich and has hints of licorice, orange and chocolate; it lacks the alcohol nip that I have gotten from most barley wines. Color is a clear mahogany with a fairly thick and persistent yellowish-beige head. Flavor is mainly malty and has ribbons of burnt caramel, unsweetened chocolate and hops; alcohol bite is not very noticeable, which is a plus. Texture is very smooth, and aftertaste has equal amounts of sweetness and hoppy bitterness.

Bottled(355ml). -Brown coloured, medium sized off-white head, toffee nose. Sweet malty, strong caramel and hops taste with sharp alcohol and notes of licorice and dried fruits. Bitter alcoholic finish.

2007 Vintage. Bottle courtesy of kmweaver. Thanks for this nice bonus, Ken. Pours a hazy mahogany with a creamy light tan head and sticky cascading lace. The nose is of slightly boozy fermenting plums, raisins, brown sugar and light spicy hops. Medium-bodied and creamy-slick with a dry "warm" finish. The flavor is fairly alcohol-forward with solid fruity notes that follow the nose, finishing with a dry, moderately spicy hopped finish. This bottle might have benefited from a bit more aging. It’s not a bad beer, but it isn’t an especially inspired barley wine either.

Pours a hazy amber. The nose is a very strong cabernet with subtle notes of malt. Comes across the palate with a semi-sweet cabernet flavor with a bitter after taste, your palate eventually adjusts so its not so bitter.

consensus here amongst buds is a very user friendly barley wine. Cant think of a more balanced barley wine than this. Poured with a nice head an plenty a lace. Pleasing rich dark amber color. Fruity bittersweet. Balanced. A tad boozy in the finish. N ’ats it.

Kind of a let down here. Maybe a good intro Barleywine, but everything is just too muted. I just like big beers, and this isn’t one. Everything you love ina barleywine, but toned way down. Malt backbone, hop profile. Very smooth and drinkable, just not what I want in a BW.