Flying Dog Horn Dog Barley Wine

A very strong barley wine better left to age a bit to take off the alcohol kick a bit. Solid BW, but not my favorite.

12 oz bottle from Premier Wines. Pours a murky brown with slight reddishness and tiny white head. Aroma of caramel malt, fruits and readily apparent alcohol. Sweet, fruity flavour with hint of chocolate. Warm alcohol finish; smooth mouthfeel. Solid.

12 fl oz bottle. Couldn,t find a bottling date but best before was 15/04/2010. Poured a mid brown/dark red( or a mix of!?) with a small head. The aroma was predominately sugar and malt. \the alcoholic strength was very evident from the cloying sweetness in the mouth which, for me, tended to mask any other flavours although I could detect cloves & rasinns. OveralI I was rather disappointed with this ’barley wine’ style ale. My experience of US beers has normally been excellent/outstanding and perhaps I was expecting rather too much in this case. Try it by all means.

Bottle. Pours a muddled, light brown body with a little off-white head. Smells of dark sugars and tart fruits. A flavor of sweet malts with little hop profile, but the alcohol is very present. Thick, yet smooth texture. Not my favorite in the Canis Major series and certainly not the best barley wine.

Bottled 355ml. Appearance: Hazy dark ruby with a small light beige head. The aroma is mainly of molasses, a huge amount of sour apples, acetone, wax, marzipan and raisin. Malt accentuated. Flavor and palate: Sweet malty taste. Very low bitterness. Alcoholic. Buttery. Mediocre malty finish which is reminiscent of raisin. Overall impression: A very poor barley wine.

12 oz bottle. Pours a hazy brown color. Aroma of sweet roasted malts. Flavor is a little bland compared to the aroma. Still pretty damn good beer.

Pours a clear dark copper/amber with a thin tight off-white head. Bourbon, licorice, toffee, and malt aroma. Taste is strong dark fruit, toffee, sweet malt, and light hops. This has a smooth and creamy mouthfeel with light carbonation and light hop bitterness. There is a low alcohol warmth on the finish. A good take on an English-style Barleywine.

I had a couple samples at the brewery today on a trip to purchase the barrel aged version. I had never had Horn Dog and I must say I am impressed. This beer has helped me understand the difference between English and American style barleywines. The color was dark, brown with a small bubbly head. The smells were dark fruits and heavy malts. The taste was very malty with hints of raisins, plums and more dark fruits. The hops have run for the hills letting me know that the British are coming! Overall, very easy to drink and too bad I haven’t had it previously. The barrel aged bottles I will consume should make up for my past mistakes. Serving type: on-tap Reviewed on: 12-06-2007 02:24:12