Heavyweight Old Salty

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

(2004 vintage) (current rating)Hazy orange, very mysterious looking. Very nice rocky dense manila head. Upon popping the cap a very nice aroma comes forth, very vinous, sweet malts, light caramel, Belgian strong aromas also. This one is starting off a lot different than previous vintages. Huge malty sweetness up front, then caramel, butterscotch, tons of fruit, citrus hops, light alcohol. This one just keeps on giving. The body is so nice, soft, very full, with a long lingering bunch of flavors swirling about. This one is so very different from the previous 2 year. This is a brilliant young barley wine, almost as good as young Bigfoot. Wow!

(2003 vintage) (7/3/7/3/14 – 3.4) Murky brown with a very large head, especially for a barley wine. Sweet, vinous aroma with notes of alcohol and some citrus. The flavor is a nice balance of the sweetness of the malts and tartness. Medium full body with a lot of alcohol evident int he finiish. A decent but not outstanding BW.

(2002 vintage) (7/3/7/3/14 – 3.4) Almost no head, murky ruby colored. Intense fruity/malty aroma. Starts hop bitter then full malt flavors develop. Finishes very malty. Thick chewy body, somewhat syrupy with no carbonation. Alcohol is well masked. This beer is good but the body is not quite right somehow, body is full but it does not stick to your teeth.

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.

A truly exceptional English Style Barleywine! Great presentation with the limited release wax sealed bottles. I believe the Philly rater above might be a bit confused with the taste of a young English Style Barley Wine. The date-like aromas, alcohol warmth, a slight hoppiness are all acceptable flavor charateristics of this style at this stage in the aging process. This is a beer to be aged, though it is amazingly smooth and very enjoyable now. One only has to compare a young Thomas Hardys with a 3-5 year version, to understand how this beer to going to progress over time. Regarding the twist-off cap, Sierra Nevada’s Big Foot Barleywine has one as well. This style of cap is neither prone to leaks or will effect the aging process, as I have had numerous bottles of vintage Big Foot. Old Salty is a fine beer!

2002 batch. 12 oz. brown bottle with a damn twist off cap. I hate twist offs. Anyway, it poured out a plum color, with no head at all. Aromas right away of caramel, malts, alcohol, and raisins. Dried prunes also in the aromas. No discernable hops aromas or flavors. Cloudy appearance, with thick, syrup-like consistency. Coats the tongue with malty goodness, and warms the stomach upon impact. It literally impacts your gut like a malt bomb. Sweet aftertaste, not bitter at all. Makes for a great barleywine. I'll be looking for more of this to age for 10 years or so.

Love it. Not overly alocholic in taste, with a nice salty taste. One of the best barly wines i’ve had.

Too bad they stopped brewing. Always enjoyed the offerings from here. This bottle may have reached its’ zenith. Pours a cloudy brown color with no head. Aroma of caramel, molasses, spice, and raisins. Perfection on the palate! Smooth. Tastes of caramel, molasses, and dark fruit. Hard to find a flaw in this.

What a great barley wine, the alcohol wasn’t all that present in the flavors like in some barley wines, very rich malty flavors, excellent beer

This is the fines barleywine I've ever had. Absolutely tremendous complexity--none of the overweening caramel cloyingness I've seen in far too many barleywines. Perfect balance, allowing literally dozens of flavors to appear. Terribly mature, so that there are no cloying caramel elements, but the youthful freshness of hops and malt is still readily apparent. Phenols appear late in the glass. Update: I found some cloying sweetness in other samples. So much for the perfect barleywine. Still, quite excellent.