Heavyweight Old Salty

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

’04 at a BW tasting. Had a plain amber color. Aroma was of carmel, sherry/whiskey, and flowers. Tasted similar...enough bitterness to make is balanced. Palate was very flat... I did actually like it quite a bit though.

Bottle shared with HogTownHarry - courtesy of him. Dark ruby-amber colour with a small off-white head. Strong, sweet aroma - lots of candy and caramel with a faint hint of alcohol. Flavour has a nice tart note, like cherry cough drops, with lots of woodiness and a brandy-like finish. We also sensed some saltiness, but we weren’t sure if it was really there, or if the name influenced us to expect it. Whatever the case, this was a nice & interesting take on the style.

Bottle vintage 2004..... Aroma:Good Caramel aroma,toffe.... Appearance:Hazy redish-brown,light white head.... Flavor:light nutty,light caramel,light sour flavor.Not alcohol flavor....

Bottle. Vintage 2004. Pours a murky dark reddish-brown with a spare off-white head. Wonderful sweet aroma of caramel malt, dark fruit, wine and hops. Flavour starts with lots of sweet caramel malt, some nuts, cherries and yes -- some salt -- and ends with a nice dose of hops. Goes down smooth with almost no sign of the 11% alcohol -- impressive really. Full bodied. A fantastic Barley Wine, I have to get me more of these!

12oz - 2004 - Thanks jeffin7 - Aroma is a beautiful mix of carmel and hops. Pours deep muddy brown with a ring head and good lacing. Flavor is also very carmel laced with hops. A touch of raisin and the alcohol is very well hidden in this aged bottle. Palate is smooth and tart. I’ve never had it young, but this is an easy drinking 11% and very tasty too.

Bottle (12oz). Shared with GregClow, my bottle. Poured cloudy ruby-orange with a small bubbly off-white quick-diminishing head. Sweet aroma of candyish roast caramel malt, rye, with a hint of lactose, not too much alcohol at this point. Taste of sour cherry, cedar, sweet orange juice malt, the alcohol is very present - the finish is medium-length and sneakily alcohol-bitter. Mouthfeel is very lively, almost stinging, syrupy, quite salty (yes it is), average body - leaves quite a thick coating in your mouth. Solid.

Outstanding example of barleywine. Lots of great sweet and pale malt character, good hop character, nice bit of alcohol. 2004 vintage. This beer pours to a beautiful, deep amber color, with a slight white head that fades to nothing, and a soft carbonation. Old Salty 2004 has a soft and fat body, with a viscous mouth feel. Lots of good pale and biscuit malt flavor coat the tongue. You really get excellent sweet and pale malt flavor in this beer, and malt is the soul of this beer. 2004 Old Salty finishes with more glorious, slick malty flavor up front, then finisheswith just a touch of mild hop bitterness to cut the cloying malt flavor of this beer, and ends with some warming alcohol heat that linger. An excellent barleywine, on to sip and savor. Cellar a few bottles, as this beer will just keep getting better.

2004 bottle. Heavyweight, you salty old dog, you. They’re right. They packed a helluva lot of malt in this thing. Dayum. Too much if you ask me. Very syrupy aroma. Just about any syrup you can think of is in there ... honey, caramel, maple. Some astringency in the nose as well. Very sweet and buttery in the mouth. Cloying doesn’t do it justice. Very sweet. It is very warming, I’ll give it that, and the alcohol content is pretty well hidden. But, I just can’t get away from the sweetness. Thanks to Dorwart for the trade!