Heavyweight Old Salty

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

2004 vintage, bottled. Chestnut brown, huge tan head which settles pretty quicly to a 1/4" layer of dense foam, which sticks around forever. Huge malty sweet aroma with molasses, brown sugar, and a bit of licorice. Juicy hoppiness had already mellowed some from the bottle I had fresh back at the beginning of the year, definite improvement with age, though. Fizzy appearance at first, but actually had a pretty smooth, creamy feel that was just a bit tingly on the tongue. Woodsy and earthy, pretty well balanced finish.

2004 bottle. Vinous, sweet, sugary aroma with toffee-like vapors. Aroma is a bit on the sweet side. Hazy amber/garnet color with a small off-yellowish head. Start is sweet, turning caramelly and toffee-like in the middle. Alcohol is somewhat detectable with a bit of roastiness to finish. This is a nice little barleywine.

Pors a deep reddish ruddy brown hue. Fruity, sweet malt nose, apple, plum, sweet caramel, butterscotch alcohol. Small off white head which dissipates quite quickly. Somewhat strong carbonation, perhaps muting some flavors and not allowing them to emerge fully. Cherry, maple, rum, slightly oily body, finishing with a peppery edge, laced with alcohol. Green leafy hops are abundant, and this will age well, the green will wear off a bit. Gotta love Heavyweight!!!

Sweet aroma of maple with a lot of floral notes and some spun sugar as well. A big smelling beer. Opague reddish brown color. Headless. Sweet brown sugar and bread pudding flavors it has a sort of belgian profile to it as suggested in the commercial description. Alcohol is only noticeable in the very last bit of the taste profile right before you swallow. Somewhat limited in flavor, but it has an interesting feel to it.

2003 bottle, courtesy of tpkenned. Thick syrupy pour to a traditional barleywine caramel brown color. A few specks for the head. Potent aroma catches the nose a few feet away, asserting brown sugar, perfume, maple, rose petals, saffron and rosemary. Hits the palate, and there’s no doubt what a little bit of aging has done to it - smoooooth. Maple syrup like sweetness and some brown sugar. Golden raisins strike a cord in a major way, complimented by toffee hard candy, apples and figs. Sugary sweetness in line with juice extracted from apricots and nectarines. Thick, velvety and coating on the palate. Age has put everything on the same page with impeccable balance. Touch of alcohol rings at the peak of the throat in the finish, but this is - overall - a nice, flavorful rendition.

2004 bottle. This was a higly drinkable brew. There was a taste of alcohol but not 11%. I have heard about how great some of these were aged. Would love to try it.

2002 vintage on tap at the Blind Tiger in Manhattan. No head over a cloudy, brown body. Aroma is exceptionally sweet -- lots of caramel malt. Malty sweet flavor with some notes of brown sugar, molasses, and burned sugars. Underhopped. Too big for its bitterness.

2004 Bottle: pours cloudy caramel brown with virtually no head. Mild iced tea aroma with a bit of malty sweetness peeking through when swirled. Hides the 11% very well. Flavor is fairly malty and a little bit of hop juiciness. Light brown sugar. Finish is a bit short and lightly bitter.