Great Divide Old Ruffian

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

Awesome amber red color, off-white head that leaves a nice ring around the glass and good lacing. Caramel, plum, floral and piney hops in the smell. Taste loads you up with caramel and dark fruit and then then the hops kick in and take charge with flavors of pineaple and maybe even orange hidden in there as well, finishes with a taste of pine. Full body, seems to be perfect carbonation. I’m glad to drink this one. This bottle was still young so some of the flavors were separated, I have a bottle I’m saving to try after the flavors start to blend.

Uh oh...Once a hater of barley wines I am slowly coming around. I used to buy these if there was nothing else I rated in the store. I went out to buy a barley wine for the first time. Great one. Aroma was huge...no Vicks...strong caramel and chocolate malt mixed with dark fruit. Pour was a murky dark brown with no head. Taste was very strong. Caramel malt, grapefruit and butter(?) with a hot hoppy aftertaste. Not too sweet which is what I usually hate about the style. Nice and increasing my fondness of my arch enemy.

FInally, some real beer! Pours amberish with lovely little head. Aroma of hops along with more traditional barley wine notes. Starts off thick and syrupy caramel sweetness, but quickly evolves into a fairly strong hoppy finish. First time I’ve had a hopped up barley wine, quite delicious.

22oz bottle, shared with Duane. Finally got around to having this gem. Clear dark amber/brown pour with a very small head. I think the commercial description pretty much nails it: lots of sun-dried fruit and caramel maltiness that does a good job standing up to the intense hop-schedule. I thought this had a lot of hop flavor to it, but the bitterness wasn’t as much as other barleywines. This isn’t a negative thing though; this is a well balanced beer. Medium mouthfeel with a finish that leaves some hop resins on your palate. Not sure how fresh or aged this bottle was. Some bottles sit on the shelf at Friar Tuck’s in Champaign for quite a while. Not a problem for a barleywine though.

Hopsier than I am used to in a barley wine, not that that is a bad thing. Faint sweetness mostly masked by the high hop content. An interesting take on the style.

(Bottle aged ~2mo): Pours a dark brown body, clear. Small diminishing head, off-white. Malty sugary sweet aroma. Molasses aroma, sickly sweet. Hoppy sweet taste. Sugary & piney. Smoother as it warms up.

amber ruby color with a 1 finger thick khaki head. hops on the nose but that’s about it honestly. very malty but the hops stick out like a sore thumb which kind of ruins the whole barley wine feel for me.

Pours a small head with a conrete lacing. Dark golden brown with a cloudy appeareance. Piney super hops is the only thing I can smell at first. It has caramel and banana undertones. Taste is very bitter and very sweet with piney hops and caramel and banana undertones. Mouthfeel is watery, but smooth, and a little carbonated. It also has a slight coffee undertone.