Lagunitas Olde Gnarly Wine

I’m biased because I love Barley wine, but this is fantastic. It pours a rich copper with a delicious aroma and flavor of malt, toffee, brown sugar with a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg. A must for any barley wine afficianado.

Bottle. Nice head with good duration. Color is dark amber. Aroma and taste are rich hops, flowers, fruits, syrop and caramel. Very thick and syropy.

Wife said, "Pretty gnarly." Powerful and compelling -- not for the faint of heart. Extraordinarily flavorful, but savor it slowly.

Wow I enjoyed this beer so much the other night I forgot to rate it. The pour and smell are amazing. The aroma is overwhelmingly sweet and floral. The taste was sweet piney hops, bitterness and lots of malt balanced by some floral hops. Really good.

Oh my. The pour on this is a gorgeous, beautiful clear dark ruby with a 2 finger super fluffy beige head. The aroma is incredible: sweet piney hops, vinous but no overbearing malty overtones as in other barley wines. Flavor is warm with a subtle malt/vanilla with a bitter lemony aftertaste to counterbalance. Semi-coating mouthfeel and still with that refreshing but soft lemony/yeasty aroma and flavor. No lacing. Like this puppy a lot.

On tap at The Thirsty Monk. Sweet brown sugar, caramel and toffee. Huge sweet nose with fresh hops that are fruity and floral. Coppery amber clear with thin off-white lacing head. Medium heavy body with medium carbonation. Tastes like caramel and cotton candy with some floral-fruity hops thrown in. Mild warming. Nice barley wine.

Tap at the blind Tiger 2009 version: Deep amberish copper with a tanish head. Big sweet aroma- chewy crystal malt sweetness, vanilla notes, a touch of minty character from the hops underneath all the caramelized thick maltiness. A bit sticky, but not cloying. Huge crystal malt sweetness- lots of residual sugars giving off vanilla- but there is a big resiny/minty hop presence to offer some bitterness. Needs time to mellow (I took one sip of someones 2007 version and it was way more balanced and subtle with notes of tobacco, but I rated strictly from the 2009 version.)

Bomber. Pours a deep amber brown color and a small head. Aroma huge in raisin, fruity, spice notes. Taste is thick. A lot of sweet fruits and nut flavor. A little syrupy for my taste.