Lagunitas Olde Gnarly Wine

amber/cherry colored beer with a large yellowish head. hoppy aroma of mandarin orange. flavor is sweet with orange hops and maybe a touch of vanilla. palate is medium bodied and sticky. again, a very fine brew from lagunitas but it doesn’t really stray far from their standard style. i feel like i had the same beer 10 times.

My first barley wine, and very unlike what I expected of one based on the name. Bomber into pint glass. Aroma dominated by piney, resin hops with undertones of slightly earthy dough and subtle oak/nut hints. Of course, port and alcohol aromas were involved. Pours a rich dark amber with a fluffy off-white / light-brown head that lasts pretty well. Its body is clear with soft carbonation (apparent but slow, steady, and not overwhelming). Nose is dominated by pine hops. As the beer warms, strong flavors of oak, port, sherry, maple syrup come out. It has a long finish dominated by warming alcohol (port-like) but it is not intrusive but rather long and mellow. The body is much thicker than I expected (medium to full body) with an oily texture. I don;t like sweet beers, but this beer has a strong but very pleasant sweetness that works well with the hops; it has a definite, but still ironically subtle, presence that lacks the overbearing and nauseating effect of most other sweet beers on me. If you see it buy it. Should be fairly cheap... REALLY cheap for the quality.

2008 bottle? Pours a nearly flat, blood red color with clarity and an off-white, fairly small, frothy head which is mostly diminishing and leaves minimal lace. Nose is simple, a bit sherry-ish and surprisingly likable; cherry candy, raisins, pine resins, light grapefruit, light bready notes, and mild alcohol warmth. Flavor is warm and candy sweet; dried apricots, light maple, sweet breads, light grapefruit, dry pine resins, and some floral notes that creep in. Palate is full and viscous, lively, and velvety, almost syrupy. Finishes long, a bit dry, and mostly sweet with dried fruit notes, lingering candy, resins, and a moderate warmth. A pretty decent BW with all parts fitting together well, but the over-the-top sweet BW’s are not really my style. Plenty of warmth in this one so I’m sure it will calm down and grow in complexity with some time in the cellar but it doesn’t have the high hop content I find preferable in the style. A nice beer from a great brewery.

Pours a light amber/brown with a small tan head. Semi-sweet aroma of caramel and toffee, along with piny/herbal hops. Flavor is full of doughy sweet malts, with a syrupy sweet undertone, and subtle herbal hops throughout. Palate is medium/full, super smooth, and slightly sticky.

Aroma is sweet with caramel like tones that remind me of cotton candy and a hint of hops. Color is a bright clear amber with mild carbonation and a tight off white head. Taste is bold and rich. Starting with a full body it goes down with a rich almost sweet feel. Finish expands on this sweetness with a rich malt flavor that has an almost brandy like quality, then a nice bitterness rolls in with a faint hop flavor. After taste comes in sharp with the alcohol boldly standing out. Its a tasty Barley Wine but not as complex as it could be and the alcohol is a little too strong on the end.

On taps at Newport Pizza. Pours a killer black cherry color with an insane sweet malty/hops nose. The flavor has touches of brown sugar and caramel along with a tangy fruityness. The mouthfeel is very full-bodied and impressive. It finishes with a nice bit of hops and the abv is almost invisible, the only way you can tell it’s there is when you get up off your bar stool, WATCH OUT! Buy a couple 22’s and let ’em age for awhile, GOOD STUFF~

A damn fine barley wine. Deep and rich in color, nose is very hoppy with pine and citrus. Taste is quite fruity with some sweetness, rich and thick this is a keeper...

22 0z. bottle, red amber color, green grape and grapefruit nose, very hoppy with a caramel and fruit bite, very smooth for this abv, I’m out to get some more