Iron Hill Oak Aged Old Tom

Formerly brewed at Iron Hill Wilmington
Style: Barley Wine
Wilmington, Delaware USA

hand-bottle from a growler from a trade with Miver. Thanks Joe! This beer has a terrific nose. Woody, lots of funky brett, subtle sweet malts, slightly vinous. I could smell this all day. The flavor takes a bit of a dive but still holds up pretty strong. Drinks more like a beefed up flanders red. Complex woody character, big malts, alcohol, brett. Vinous, sweet, plenty of alcohol in the finish. Kind of a thin mouth feel, all things considered. This beer is really good at the start but kind of falls apart at the end with it the excessive booziness. Interesting beer though, no doubt.

On tao at Wilmington Iron Hill. Pour is cloudy and dark. Not much of a head...just a white ring around the glass. Aroma is tart and woody, wine like. Flavor is full. Some tartness, but very snooth and drinkable. This reminds me of CL SFTO Wine, but I enjoy this much more. The fresh version also was much better than the handbottle we had a couple weeks ago.

Much thanks to Dmac for sharing a growler of this. Pours out a murky dark amber color with a very small lacing head. Very interesting aroma, funk with some notes of oak and slight alcohol, maybe a little sweetness in there too. Taste is very complex, and extremely unique. Some vinous funkiness blends with some sweetness, mainly caramel and some raisin, definitely not your everyday barleywine, that overwhelming boozy sweetness it totally taken away by the aging in the lambic barrels. Just about one of the best barley wines Ive ever had. Truly top notch.

Handbottle shared with Sparky27. Thanks for the chance to try this Eric. Trying the Barrel Aged Lambic. More gold than orange in color with not even a single bubble mustered to form a head. Quite funky...in fact, smell more funk than sour, if that makes sense. Oak, musty, woodsy character. A little thin. Not my favorite.

Re-rate on draft at the Wilmington location a couple of days later: Darned great, just a great brew, loving it all the more. Have to bump up the aroma rating, a near perfect brew for me. Original rating: On draft at the Wilmington location. Poured a deep orange-copper color with a nice off-white colored head with good lacing, much surprising for a BA brew. Aroma was bretty funk, caramel, raisins, and oak. Flavor featured the regular base beer: caramel, raisins, other fruity notes, faint resinous hops still present. The barrell aging, however, provided a wonderfully complex and tasty experience, lactic tartness, bret notes, and musty oak. Really great and lively mouthfeel, just very well-done.

Thanks to Pilsner Peter for sharing this at Pauls BW tasting. Brown in color with some amber highlights. Aroma of funk and sour fruit, with some molasses and oak. Taste- nice and malty, with some weird stinky funk, caramel, toasted malts, oak, sourness is light to moderate. Really unique- very nice.

Handbottle courtesy of GMCC2181. Not sure why there’s a catch all for this, as the lambic is clearly nothing like the barleywine. Anyway, my rating is for the BA lambic. Pours a medium clear amber with no head. Nose is sour funk and wood. Taste is funk, alcohol, wood and a soapy finish. Medium prickly mouth feel even though there’s no carbonation. Interesting brew. Thanks G-Diddy!

12oz. handbottle, with a big thanks to hopdog. Pours a hazy orange amber with a two finger off-white head that drifts to a whispy covering fairly quickly, moderate retention and lacing. Aroma is Funky with a capital F, cheese, musty oak, overripe, almost moldy fruits, couldnt be further from a barleywine on the nose. Flavor is newer fruits, with some apple skin and fresh plum, more musty oak, and some sour funkiness on the finish, but the funk qualities are pushed more to the background on the flavor. Wow, cant imagine calling this a barleywine by any stretch of the imagination, but who cares, its unique, interesting, and quite tasty. Thanks again Steve.