Great Divide Old Ruffian

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

Pours clear bronze with a soapy tan head. The aroma is very hoppy with pineapple, coconut, spice, pine and heavily roasted malt. Full bodied with lots of soft frothy carbonation. Taste starts with the malt from the aroma along with woody and earthy hops. The finish has some spicy hops and a pleasant hop harshness. Very hop heavy enjoyable barleywine.

Pours a thick-hazed, melon-tinted bronze, while a fat & sticky head slowly leaves a fat and sticky lace. Aroma finds thick, citrus-laced toffee perfumed with florals and dry, peppery notes. Flavor finds a spicy hint of rye to a juicy, fruity base. This brew is pretty "big" with a healthy ABV hit. Thick & silky with a warming finish.

<font size=-4>Purchased several months ago from <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Liquors, Chicago, IL 60638. Phone first.</font>

22 oz. bottle with no date, but I’ve had it for at least a year, so there is a little age on it for sure. A big beige head leaving a sticky and substantial lace, and showing excellent durability floats on top of a deep ruby/brown pour. Biting spicy and piney hop aroma is the introduction to this inviting brew. Undertones of dark fruit, roasted grain, and burnt caramel add to the mix. Resinous mouthfeel with a medium body and light to medium carbonation. The big bitter hop presence is right up front, but is nicely supported by a rich malty character, although make no mistake, hops are what this beer is all about. A long bitter finish is the perfect ending.

Amber to ruby color. Beige head w/ lacing throughout. Had in a Chimay goblet. Nice fruity amlty flavor with the hops kicking in afterwards. this bottle will put you on your ass though.

22 oz. bomber. Pours an almost clear garnet with a two-inch, yellow-white, bubbly head. Very nice aroma of caramel malt, dates, and some whiffs of alcohol. The flavor is all about the hops. There is an initial sweetness of caramel malt, which is very quickly overrun and trampled to death by a massive wave of hops bitterness. Its like taking a grapefruit and biting into it like an apple. There is a long, lingering bitter finish with some heat from the alcohol as well. An interesting interpretation for sure but a bit too rough around the edges for me.

This is the beer to drink if you want your ass kicked. Most powerfully, bitingly bitter beer I think I’ve had. More bitter than Double Bastard, maybe more bitter than Founders Devil Dancer. (Back in the day when I was on a disfiguring hop-kick, this would have been a real fix, 4.6+ material for sure. Just goes to show how my ratings are skewed.) This is hardcore, relentless. My tongue is crying for mercy. Much like the minus-5 weather we’re having before the wind-chill . . . BRUTAL!

Only 90 IBUs? I think they’re downgrading their estimate for marketing purposes so as not to scare anyone away. This is a mean, sadistic beer. Sophist-ochists will appreciate.

That’s before the hard alc-buzz kicks in....

A nice deep coppery red pour. Big hoppy aroma with hints of various fruits. Malty sweetness also. Taste is full of hop bitterness but well matched with a the big malty flavor. This is what i love to see in Barley Wines.

Mahogany red with a golden and dense head. The aroma has notes of fruit and light sweetness. The mouthfeel is oily. It’s a very complex beer, and the impressions invade my tongue and palate for a long time - actually the flavour develops for several minutes and goes deep down in the throat. I get notes of mango, preserved figs, licorice, pine, resin and hops - hops - hops! The sweetness are found in different levels, but never ever too sweet and the bitterness is nice and rather dominant throughout the entire flavour. A truly nice beer!!