Lagunitas Olde Gnarly Wine

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

I was very excited to see this product at my supermarket, as I like Lagunitas offerings. I poured the beer into a glass and the aroma was very sweet with a slight bit of alcohol in the background (smelled a little like peaches or pear juice). At first sip, I wasn’t impressed (I thought it tasted a little flat with no real character). My second taste was much better. A little bit of hoppy finish makes this a tasty beverage. Careful though, if you drink the whole thing in one sitting you’ll be more than a little tipsy.

Bottle... Poured a crystal clear ruby with a thin beige head. Faint sugary malt aroma with an earthy character. Really thick palate and very syrupy with a slight foamy effect. Very sweet and tart, lots of brown sugar and warm oak alcohol notes. Blend of toffee and caramel with a bit of hops to follow up the earthy and leafy pesences. Malt aftertaste. Overall it’s really delicious and probably the best I have had from this brewery.

dark amber pour with a 2 finger cream head. hops and thick malts on the nose. not as thick as i was expecting but the hops are present at first and then the malts come in and balance it out quite a bit. very impressive beer right here.

Pours a nice copper color with 2 fingers of white head. Aroma of malt, fruits, sugar, hops and citrus. Taste of Fruit, malt, sugar, hops all come together fairly well in this one with a nice sweet finish. Pretty gnarly brew. ;) For the price I’m not complaining.

One of the best barleywines i’ve ever had. pours a beautiful dark ruby color with a medium fizzy off white head. aroma - burnt caramel, pungentness of simcoe hops, grapefruit, raisins, alcohol, butterscotch. Flavor - alcohol soaked plums, burnt sugar and butterscotch, cinnamon, caramel, and some citrus. a full bodied sweetness with a slightly hoppy aftertaste. mouthfeel - creamy and full without being too heavy. a great nightcap. another great one from lagunitas!!! would love to drink again!

On cask at Night of the Living Ales IV. I wasn’t going to bother with this beer, until it was suggested by drewbeerme. Wow, what a surprise. This took to the cask extremely well. Nose is a blend of caramel, toffee, red fruit, and citrus. Alcohol is not noticeable. Caramels, cherries, apples, oranges with fresh PNW hops. Tasty beer. I’ll be picking this up next time I see it.

on cask at the Night of the Living Ales IV, this one really surprised me and actually blew me away. wonderful fruity hop aroma and flavor, alcohol hidden really well, this tasted extremely fresh and was extremely drinkable. now i need to re-rate a fresh bottle. 4.2.

4/08/08, 2008 vintage, very fresh sample. pours cleary ruby with creamy off white head. aroma with alcohol, nail polish remover, grapefruit and red fruit hop aroma. flavors have a sweet malt base, a bit alcohol in flavor but not hot, hopped up too, very fruity hop flavors. could use some more bitterness but with the sticky body this resembles an american barleywine very well. pretty good stuff but not as great as the cask sample i recently had. 3.9.

22oz bottle. 2008 vintage, aged about 14 months. pours caramel color with off white head. nose of caramelized malts, honey, nuts. flavors are very caramelly, piney hop notes, nutty finish. the hops have faded in the aroma but are still noticed in the flavor. enjoyed this 1 yr old bottle. 3.9.

From the cask at Night of the Living Ales in Chicago. This was one of my favorite beers of the night. Aroma of dark fruits and spice. Hides the 9.7% alcohol very well. Nice malt flavor and it is well balanced. I need to get some bottles of this.