Lagunitas Olde Gnarly Wine

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

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.

In short: A “refreshing” 11% barley wine with generous hopping and nice fruits notes. A classic.
How: Bottle 22oz. Consumed about 8 months after purchase
The look: cloudy golden brown body with a lot of small particles. Medium beige head with medium retention.
In long: Nose has a pleasant mix of refreshing fruity hops and caramel. Taste continues in this direction. Lots of juicy caramel, not toffee, no butterscotch, not whatever-is-sweet, this is pure juicy caramel. Relatively to the style (American Barley Wines) this one has more refreshing fruit flavours, citrus, oranges, pineapples, etc. A good amount of fruity hops here that really alleviate the heavily caramelized body makes This beer surprisingly drinkable. Too many American Barley wines go for the sugary-sweet thickness. This one is a classic example of how to make a not cloying very drinkable big Barley Wine. Relatively cheap, 11%, widely available and very good… AA’s worst enemy.

Overall a great beer. Nose is sweet malt and caramel. The palate is thick and creamy, with a smooth mouth coating property.

22 oz bottle. Nose of malt. Sour malt taste very heavy on the malt. heavy body. Overall good