Heavyweight Barrel Aged Old Salty

Formerly brewed at Heavyweight Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Ocean Township, New Jersey USA

Amber, reddish colour with a tan head. Malty, caramel sweet aroma with notes of fruit and wood. Malty, fruity and light toffee sweet flavor with vanilla sweet notes in a light dry finish.

A 2005 vintage bottle, sampled at Cellar’s Wine & Spirits in St Paul, Minnesota and shared by Stine. Pours a hazy dark reddish brown amber brew with a fizzy and bubbly off-white head that has some excellent retention and some spotty lacing. Aroma of bourbon, brown sour ale, vanilla, and a light brown sugar. Taste is full bodied, sweet as sin, bourbonized candi sugar, and some caramel malt. Finish is high alcohol warmth, bourbon and some candi sugar aftertaste that really compliments the bourbon character. Three years of aging did some wonders to this barely wine. Thanks Stine!

2005 bottle - I’ve been waiting awhile to try this beer. Each time I go to my beer shelf it beckons me. But I ignore the impulse and look for something else. Well, this time I didn’t ignore that inner voice. I pulled it off the shelf, wisked it into the frig and let it get cool. After awhile, I popped the cork and couldn’t wait.

The beer pours out a hazy, reddish/orange color, almost something that you’d get after rinsing out a rusty rain gutter. Head was almost non-existant. A small thin head emerged from the body, but it went away really quickly. Aroma was sweet. Something along the lines of a molasses/brown sugar combo, but mostly hard to define what it was...just sweet. Flavor was pretty much the same..just..sweet. Maybe some caramel and the slightest touch of vanilla, but it was so subtle. The sweetness though was up front, large and in charge. Honestly, nothing remotely special about this beer. I know they went belly up awhile back and this being a "barrel aged" beer and all. I got no barrel qualities out of it and the beer was just okay.

750ml bottle @Mels YEHA-pours an off white head and copper/brown color. Aroma is dark malt-molasses/brown sugar, vinuous, dark fruit. Taste is dark malt-molasses/brown sugar, vinuous, dark fruit, smooth, alcohol, some spice. Occasional.

Capped 750 ml. bottle, no bottling date with a goofy dog label, sampled in a snifter glass. Murky caramel brown appearance with a small. compact pale beige head. Nice aroma of caramel, toffee and licorice. Chocolate, nuts and herbal hops in the background. Supremely malty body that helps balance out and keep the the 11% ABV under control, just a low , smooth chocolate warmth in the plate. Lush malty taste of chocolate, caramel, toffee and Crystal nuttiness. A very light berry fruitiness in the middle, a good blend of sweet and sour. The bottle I obtained is at least 3 years old, so the the hops have become quite tamed, a mix of citrus and herbal elements. As the taste progresses a great deal of vanilla oak woodiness comes out. I don’t know why Heavyweight went out of existence, but this is a extremely well crafted barley wine, a first rate, upper trier American barley wine. I wish this was still being produced.

On tap at Spuyten Duvil for Big Woody day. Poured a murky orangey/brown with a small white head that lasted just as long as the beer did. Aroma had a nice touch of funky swetness, some people thought it was infected, bourbon, wood, floral notes and caramel. Creamy body with a nice touch of carbonation. Flavor was very similar to the aroma with notes of wood and bourbon wrapped up in a nice sweet elixir. This beer is aging great and it’s just a shame that Heeavyweight is no more.

Bottle thanks to a trade with eyedrinkale. I forgot to add this rating from a while back. I know I enjoyed this barley wine and I may not get another shot at trying this one again. 3/28/08 Damn it got another taste at "Spring in the new year with brett" at fordests house. Still agree with my earlier rating

Pours a golden brown with almost no head, light lacing. Aroma of sweet roasted malts, caramel, and oak. Flavor is sweet caramel. Smooth with a little alcohol burn going down.