Lagunitas Olde Gnarly Wine

Bottle. Nice looking amber color with reddish tones, smaller than expected head. Excellent barleywine aroma. Great barleywine flavor. Nicely balanced malt/hop ratio. Smooth and perfect strength beer.

22 oz bottle: Medium very hazy amber w/ a lasting cream colored head. Caramel malt & lemony citrus hops up front. Very perfumey alcohol & medium fruitiness a combination of hops and caramel green apples. Malts are toasty and bready as it warms and take over the aroma profile. Pretty well balanced throughout. Caramel and toasty malt flavor with lemony hops. Medium fruitiness is light green apple & herbal hop pops up as it warms. It also gets a bit sweeter as it warms into the finish, but it does not become cloying. Aftertaste is toasty malt, citrusy hop, and a light touch of caramel. Fuller body, well hidden alcohol in the mouthfeel, low carbonation, very smooth. A good barleywine, but not a great one from the ones I’ve had so far.

Bottle. A nice version of the style w/ a slant towards the hoppy side. Not hoppy like Bigfoot, more well balanced, but a definite West Coast version of the style.

BW # 5 Bomber poured into 3 brandy glasses. Poured with minimal head. Color is a copperish-brown. Aroma is very strong and very malty (really i expected this from Alesmith). Some fruitiness as well. Taste is butterscotch-alcohol malty. A tiny bit thinner than I like. Alcohol pretty present. A good bitter ending in the taste.

Head was small leaving an oiley skim. Carmel in nose and tongue. Too malty for a real barely wine. Chewey and think I have had better. Not even an alcohol finish to top it off.

6/17/06: Bottle.
Full hop aroma with a deep garnet body which is tranquil with no head or lace. Flavors include citrus hops, malt, caramel, fruit and spice. Nicely complex, other notes… alcohol is well hidden.

Had this at Brickskellar in Washington, D.C. Pours a clear mahagony color with minimal head. Hoppy aroma with a hint of brown sugar and caramel. Very sweet taste. I kind of liked it. Malty caramel taste with a kick of hops. Nice light, but dry finish. One of the better barley wine’s I’ve had.

This stuff was pretty gnarly. Aroma is pretty hoppy, pleasent. Pours a dark amber. Flavor is nice, complex, hits sweet, malty caramel, nice hoppy finish. Pretty full body, hides alcohol well. Nice beer overall. If I find it again, I will gladly drink it.