Flying Dog Horn Dog Barley Wine

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

Rich complex deep dried dark-fruit aroma and flavor, layers and levels of flavor, raisins on prunes on dried cherries all drenched in milk chocolate over toast. Seductive!

Bottle. Pours a murky dark reddish-brown with a spare light-brown head. Aroma of sweet malt, caramel, light hops, brown sugar and alcohol. Flavour follows the aroma but with a touch more hops. Malty sweet with a bitter aftertaste. I was surprised when I saw it was 10.5% because I honestly couldn’t taste it -- but I certainly could feel it by the end of the bottle. I really enjoyed this Barley Wine -- not the best of it’s kind but definitely up there and recommended. I will aim to get more and age them for a few years as I would imagine they would get even better.

Vintage 2003B. Originally rated March 14, 2005. Deep ruby brown pour, with no head and weak lacing. Practically still. Sweet plain malt aroma. Very sugary with a musty background. Finishes grassy. A little bit of raspberry chocolate. Alcohol is a little too strong on the tongue. Not very much hops profile. Re-rating another slightly older bottle. I’m more impressed this time around, it’s a very honorable English-style.

Cellar rating. 12oz Bottle. 2003B. Purchased in February 2005. Tasted on July 28, 2008. Light spritz and then a pour into the glass of red ochre, with a fringe in gold and a rim in off-white. Aroma is oxidized, but maintains some very pleasurable caramel, ripe plum and pear, and a bit of cheap brandy. Not bad. Flavor holds spiciness, heat, and a rich caramel body. More complex cocoa powder dust, almond paste, and sponge pudding hold up the majority of the body. A bit of dust, oxidation and celery seeds feel out the depth of the flavor. Still hot and burgeoned with a bit too many esters. Yet, the prickly carbonation keeps it alive and lets the well-melded malt character show. Palate is fairly balanced, but edges sweet and warm. Interesting to try at five years, but nothing I’d get overly excited about hanging onto.

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.

12oz bottle. Pours a dark brown/red with small light tan ring head. Nose is dark fruits, dates, molasses. Taste is chocolatey, more dates and dark fruits, molasses, a light bitter finish with an alcohol warmth and tingle.

12 oz bottle: Aroma is big on malt, caramel, hard candy, dark fruit like plum, and somewhat of a hop backing. Pours a very dark muddy red/amber with a thick tan head that lingers. Taste is really sweet, again with the plum, malt coming through, caramel candy, and a light nuttiness. Palate is heavy on the tongue with an aftertaste of a lingering caramel malt flavor. Overall, Decent Barleywine I think I’m drinking this a little too young but decent all around. Cheers!

Bottle from Duane, thanks Dad. Dark, dark copper pour with a smallish head and minimal lacing. Caramel and sugary malty aroma. Big malt aroma and not much in the way of hops. Big malt flavor, not too complex and not what I would expect from a barley wine, but flavorful enough to be interesting.

Pours a dark, reddish-brown. A barely-there tan head that quickly disappears in to the ether. Smell is a rich maltiness. Caramel and floral hops. Tastes of rich caramel malt. Fruity plum and spiced raisin. Citrusy hops in the finish and aftertaste. Sticky and rich in the mouth. Not bad. I like my barleywines a bit bolder and a bit more complex. This one is really smooth however and does have a nice fruitiness to mix things up. Not one I would drink over and over but solid.