Lagunitas Olde Gnarly Wine

Brewed by Lagunitas Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Petaluma, California USA

Bottle. I dunno what I was thinking, but I wasn’t expecting much from this one... I thought it might be an overhoped attempt at another high ABV Lagunitas offering. Surprise! Color is that lovely tawny brown with a little bit of a head that leaves a nice film on the surface with a few soapy-looking bubbles here and there. Aromas are pineapple and sweet and sticky malt, but the flavor is where this really comes into its own. Sweet candi and caramel malts intermingle with fruits like prune, dates, figs and apricots and yield to a bit of a pine and pineapple hops finish. Lovely.

bomber. a very solid barley wine.... did not blow me away, but solid nonetheless. And at a price of $3.50 / bomber you really can’t beat it... obviously not as good as the top BW’s out there - but they will cost you 4x as much / bottle. pours a deep red / amber with very little head. some spice and sweet malts in the aroma. medium hop presence from the start to finish - but balances the malts extremely well. sweet finish - the sugars really shine through. Overall a solid BW that drinks very well and almost too easily... will knock you on your butt with its near 10% abv.... go buy some when its out.

Pours a deep amber with a small off-white head, fairly clear. Strong hops on the nose, with some rich sweet maltiness. More of the same in the taste, pine/citrus hops front, then very sweet malt middle and bitter end. A little syrupy. Overall just fine, nice price.

Aroma is slightly sour and hoppy. Clear amber-orange color with a medium tan head. Alcohol bitterness through out fading slowly afterwards. Creamy palate.

Bomber from Oaktree. Pours a nice light to medium amber - very clear and refined with a thin lasting off white head and nice lace. Aroma is typical smooth caramel malts, light sharp crystal character- and a nice citrusy orange zest hop character. Moderate caramel malts, fairly sweet overall, body seems pretty big- but you can tell it is fairly filtered and has a slight slick and sharp finish with a modest harsh NW citrus hop in the end. Pretty decent but not outstanding.

Draught: Pours completely transparent amber/light brown. Thin off white head Dark fruity aroma. Blackberries and cherries. Smokey maple sweetness. Flavor is like candy fruit syrup coating my tongue. Peaches and strawberries with an artificial apricot in the finish. I also get some smokey-ness very little with a hint of molasses. Thick syrupy palate. chewy and a little unbalanced. Not easy to drink, it’s very heavy.

poured into a snifter. Pours a rich ruby with a film of soapy head. Rich odor of hops and malts. Really smooth beginning, which grows as the flavor expands in your palate. Sweet caramel and sweet fruit are pretty strong in the aftertaste, but there’s just a little hint of a bitter aftertaste. Its not an intense barley wine, but I really like it.

22 oz. bomber. Nice head on the pour, leaves perfect lace for at least half the glass. Garnet red color is completely clear. This is a great looking brew! Aroma is strongly malty, caramel mapley sweetness, and this carries right on through to the flavor. Overbearing sweetness is this offering’s downfall. It’s like the juice-box of barleywines, without anything to balance it out. Almost no finish to speak of. I guess you might try to cellar some to see if it eats some of that sugar over the years, but I have some doubts.