Iron Hill Oak Aged Old Tom

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

12oz hand bottle. Much like the IH Oaked Quad, this is one very unique brew. Light rubbery phenolics initially on the nose. Some barrel tannin... I would almost tempt a guess as red wine? Some sour cherries. Behind all the odd funk is plenty of rich maltiness. A bit of alcohol. Lighter aromas of dying citrus fruit. Pours a thick, dark charred caramel brown with a glimmer bright orange around the edges. is the beer supposed to taste like this or is it a complete accident? Nevertheless, thick caramel malts, wet oak and funky yeast come together in a delicious way. Vanilla extract, wood tannin. A slight citrus characteristic. Slightly vinous with hints of tart grape tannin. Medium to full bodied with the alcohol showing on the finish. The hand bottle held up extremely well as there was a loud hiss upon uncapping and the head retention and carbonation was excellent. Finishes slightly tart and warming with a bit of mop bitterness. Thanks for the awesomely weird treat Steve!

Unfiltered rich tawny burgundy brown body with a small tan head. Intensely rich nose, extremely inviting and incredibly complex... heavy notes of acetic, buddy oak wine barrels are the first thing noticed, with a rich and tannic red grape skin note following, hinting at west Flanders red ale... more comments to come, RB is limiting number of characters...

Tap at Wilmington. Pours a slightly hazy deep coppery brown with a thin head. Aroma initially a lot of funky sourness- good lactic acid, farmhouse and lots of goaty sweaty lambic weird stuff going with a good old woody character, along with big toasted malts, nutty, good caramel sweetness, then a weird stinky cheesy funk which underlies the malts and some woodiness. Flavor is good, still pretty big with full malts, despite a weird brett infection, ok sweetness, medium caramel and Munich malts, ok raisiny and apple fruits, and a slightly drying finish from the wood and brett. The brett was a bit weird and could be a unique strain imparted from whatever oak barrel they used. It went well with a few different stinky cheeses though.

Hand bottle shared by pilsnerpeter (thanks, pete!) - this was one strange brew, and not in an entirely good way - the aroma was both what I was expecting, and not - there was a powerful, lambic-ish funk that made it hard to make out the barleywine characteristics underneath - oak also helped to wash them out - the flavor had the same powerful, almost cheesy funk, with some rubbery phenols - oak and vinous character makes things a bit more complex, and some sweetness does try to make its presence known - I really liked this at first, but with each sip I became more of the opinion that it was simply strange - don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed the experience, but just because something is unique, doesn’t mean it’s awesome.

Hand Bottled (Thanks hopdog!) Pours a murky amber with bubbly tan head. The aroma is tart and spicy- some funky cheese, red onion skin, oak, passion fruit and a mild citric character. Great silky feel on the palate. Has a sharp funkiness- almost armpit-like. The sharpness has an almost red onion like bitterness along with tart fruit notes of passion fruit. There’s an underlying touch of smooth creamy vanilla, along with a touch of cheese rind and toasted oak. Lots of smooth oak tannins into the finish. This is a complex and unique Barley Wine, great stuff!

Great aroma - spring fields with grass, wildflowers, herbs, and wine. Brown pour with foamy head. Flavor is very earthy and rustic - woody notes, herbal flavors, nutty, a little sour, and with a touch of something like sweat. Alcohol content turned out to be higher than expected. Interesting brew.

pours a mostly opaque dark amber brown with a thinnish light brown head... aroma of oak, tartness, fruit with somewhat of a sweet malty backdrop, berries surface as it warms woody, oaken flavors with a light tart sensation, some peat and a bitterness that lingers on the tongue. a little bit of earthiness and dryness carbonation has def held up. 7/4/8/4/15

Hand bottle, thanks to axilla. Poursamber/brown...cloudy, and with a small ioff white head. Aroma is oak, brett, caramel, and fruit. Flavor is fruit, caramel, brett, oak, toffee, and some vanilla. Fairly easy to drink, for being over 10%.