Lagunitas Olde Gnarly Wine

(1999 Bottle) Appearance: Pours a brownish-red body with a very thin, off-white head. Smell: Aroma overflowing with sweet-smelling caramel along with notes of vanilla and dark fruits. Lightly boozey. Very faint hint of wet paper lurking in there as well. Taste: Rich, sweet maltiness with flavors of dark caramel. Mild vanilla note. Some dried dark fruits. Only a very, very subtle earthy bitterness remains. A bit of oxidation has taken up residence. A mellow alcoholic finish with an emphasis on the candylike malt sweetness. Mouthfeel: Medium-full body. Medium carbonation. Nicely warming. Drinkability: Good stuff! A very well put-together barleywine from Lagunitas.

Huge malt nose with hints of piney hops. Pours light amber. Huge malt flavor, caramel, piney hops, smooth with a thick mouthfeel.

Here is an extremely flavorful brew. Tons of malt and some hops in the aroma. Alcohol is apparent but in a good way. Heavy body but still goes down easy.

On tap, nice amber/ copper tone, sweet malty aroma. Flavor was caramel malt, and a bit too medicine like. A touch of caramel, and a strong alcohol flavor. The chalk board at the pub claimed 11%, and it seemed about right. Not bad, but I would prefer many other BW’s.

Bottled. A hazy dark amber beer with a fast disappearing tan head. The aroma is sweet with powerful notes of caramel, but also lighter notes of malt. The flavor is sweet malty with powerful notes of caramel as well as lighter notes of alcohol, leading to a dry bitter caramel finish. The body is thick - somewhat like drinking caramel soup - if that exists.

Dark red with a small lacy tan head. Sweet and strong. Raisins in the nose and plums in flavor. Nice bitterness for an american Barley Wine (style ale).

22oz Bomber
Deep reddish amber color with no head. This was a deep malt nose and some strong dried fruity aromas. The flavor was that of a Barley win made for the gods of brewing. A great flavor in this 2007 batch. This will be a great beer in the years. Has some great after taste and the underlying spices and mild yeasts where awesome.

Nearly clear reddish brown, moderate head with good lacing and retention. Aroma is fairly fruity with notes of citrus, grapefruit and peach. Malt is mostly caramel with sugary notes as well, like most of their beers. Vanilla and alcohol sneak in at the end. Fairly sweet with some warming. Enjoyable but didn’t come off as a 3.9 range BW.