Flying Dog Horn Dog Barley Wine

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

Aroma is sweet and chemical. Deep ruby body with thin off white head and no lacing. Taste is dark, roasted, thinner than expected. Something in the finish is off. Texture is like a scouring pad. Not very smooth or luxurious like many other BWSA’s. A shame really. Not sweet at all, which is a relief, but the chemical flavor is very present.

Murky brown/amber out of the bottle, nice frothy but ephemeral head. Aroma of a green caramel apple. Malty cocoa and dark fruit flavors, unmasked alcohol and a somewhat oily finish. With a good number of phenomenal barleywines out there, this one doesn’t quite measure up, but isn’t entirely unenjoyable either.

Bottle probably about 1yr old, sat around in the fridge, never surfacing as one I wanted to try, not sure why I bought it in the first place, as I’m not a huge FD fan, cough, cough. The pour was brown with some reddish aspects, weak head, near nil lacing. The aroma was fruity, dark fruity, molasses, caramel. The flavor was dark fruity (not in a great way, though), caramel (sticky, icky, off), sticky, finishing with a slightly but not significantly redeeming piney (slight citrus) hop touch. Mouthfeel was lowly carbonated, sticky, actually quite an astringent mess. Ignore the label, this ain’t nothing like a "fine wine," and if it gets better over time, I’m glad I let it sit around for a little while before consuming. Boo, FD!

’07 Bottle tasted August ’08.

I’ve been drinking a lot of really good beers lately and I guess I felt like it was time to do penance. This one has been sitting around for a while. Pours brown with plentiful ruby highlights and a modest head leaving long-lived foamy lace around the edge of the glass. Nose of green apples and hot alcohol, rotten vegetables and a bit of old cheese. Really not impressive, but if anything the flavor is even less pleasant. Alcohol, cough syrup, very sticky-sweet, candied prunes, an assortment of the various off-flavors one might find in a barleywine. Drain pour.

Bottle, 355 cl. (Bought @ Mi Orge Mi Houblon, Arlon) Hazy amber-brown color, a good offwhite head. Aroma malts, light hops. Medium body. Taste malts, bit hops and a warming touch of alcohol. Not bad.

Bottle. Pours a hazy amber with a small off white head. Aroma of sweet fruit, molasses and malt. Tastes of wood and rasin/citrus. The alcohol is warming, great beer for this raining day.

Bottle. Amber brown with purple and a small head. Aromas are sweet malts and berries with molasses and bready yeast. Lightly spicy and vinous with woody herbal notes. Flavours are sweet toffee mailts with spiced resinous oranges. Fruity and moreish with nice spicy pine. The alcohol is not too harsh. A good warming brew.

Strong malt with a light hops late in the aroma. Dark amber color with a medium tan head. Light start with a sweet malt flavor in the beginning with a moderate hoppy finish. Lightly creamy palate.