Great Divide Old Ruffian

Brewed by Great Divide Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Denver, Colorado USA

Orange/brown in colour, large beige coloured head, excellent retention and lacing. Aroma is quite hoppy, lots of caramel sweetness, pine, light chocolate. The flavour is again quite hoppy, piney, earthy, caramel malt sweetness, woody, toffee, very chewy. Moderately bitter mouthfeel, medium/large body, medium/high carbonation. Finishes very long, very hoppy, light alcohol, sticky. A big and chewy barleywine, lots of hops and quite sweet. Only a bit of alcohol in noticable, good balance.

650ml bottle obtained in a trade with <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/ViewUser.asp?U target=blank>TheCheeseMan, thanks Dan.
Received on November 23, 2007 and opened on November 29, 2007
No date.

Tasted at By The Bottle’s tasting--Nice deep mahogany body like the label says. Great thick robust hoppy and malty character. A monstrous brew. Resinous and piny without the annoying cloying. I bet this puppy ages well. Sweet and bitter, but well balanced. Stellar brew!

March 2006 - This was a good barleywine. Strong aroma leapt from the smallish head. Aroma and flavor was caramel malt and hop bitterness. The highlight was the nice, thick mouthfeel. A little aggressive on the hops for my liking, but a nice sweetness attempted to balance it out. Could use a little mellowing to make the tastes blend a little. Not bad...would try again.

My first barley wind stye ale. Wonderful flavor and hop presence. Malty start that moved to the slightly bitter hop finish. Alcohol flavor increased over time.

Aroma is heavy pine and grapefruit hops, with light caramel malts and a touch of doughy yeast. Pour yields a medium amber colored brew with a largish creamy off-white head that retains well and has pretty good lacing. Flavor is heavy hops, bitter and salty on the finish. A bit over carbonate. I would not want to drink too much of this stuff, as it is extremely hoppy, but it is still a decent brew.

Poors a hazy mahogany brown with a good, lightly sticky head. Aroma is very fresh with big notes of floral hops, malty toffee, caramel, alcohol and strangely enough, candy cane...but I think thats just me. The flavour is deep and complex, starting off sweet with big notes of malt toffee, chocolate, caramel, and finishing with a good smack in the face of fresh hops, with big notes of pineneedles, grapefruit, and orange zest. One of the better balanced barley wines i’ve tried. A damn tasty brew, goes really good with chocolate.

Murky dark brownish red in the glass. Smells sweet and fruity yet hoppy as well. Really well blended barleywine here. Perfectly sweet and malty with a nice hoppy ass kick in the pants to go with it. Damn, this is one fine barleywine. Bigfoot is still my favorite but this is without a doubt one of the best I’ve ever had. If I could actually get this one here, it would be a barleywine staple. Highly recommended!

Thanks to Acknud for the bottle. Hazy orange/copper with a (barely) medium head. Aroma of brown sugar and caramel, a little alcohol, citrus/floral hops and sweet fruits (dates). Fairly sweet taste, and a bit of a chalky texture. Warm through and through, but the alcohol got a bit overbearing as it warmed.