Lagunitas Olde Gnarly Wine

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

Pours copper brown with a tan head. Aroma is fruity, citrusy hops with a little bit of caramel. Flavor is nice blend of citrusy, fruity hops with a nice malty backbone. Good stuff.

Had this one at the 2009 Portland Holiday Ale Festival. This is an incredible Barley Wine! Pours a dark ruby with little head. The sweet malty aroma is merely a teaser for the incredibly rich flavor to come. Mouthfeel is creamy with tons of carmel, toffee and honey. Alcohol is well hidden. I absolutely loved this beer!

From notes. Garnet pour with a small beige heat that sits enticingly. Aroma is powerful- evident even before going in for the first sniff. Malt character is bready and sweet in nature. Sourdough, caramel, brown sugar, molasses and fruit cake are most evident. Hop character is citrus heavy with an alcohol burn near the end. Flavor is suitably sweet- caramel, toffee, some dark fruit, and port notes thoroughly balance a biting hop bitterness that manifests in the form of citrus and resin. Sweetness still prevails. Palate is quite thick- syrupy, succulent, sweetly smacking, resinous, and velvety smooth. A bit bitter for my ideal representation of the style, but amazing for a hopped up American style barley wine.

Red plum colored pour with a small off-white head. Aroma is quite nice; lots of caramel malt, sourdough bread, chocolate orange, plum, raisin, and other dark fruit notes. Most of the smell is characterized by the malt content, but the citrus hop notes mix in beautifully, and there’s some foreshadowing of booze that I’m sure will be on the tongue upon sipping. Flavor holds tons of sweet caramel, and seems chewy and thick like caramel as well. This heavy sweetness, along with more dark fruit, is balanced by a clearly discernable hop bitterness. Palate is extremely full and rich, and the booze mixes with the bitterness to really create a nicely aggressive mouthfeel. Really a solid American style barleywine.

Pours out a dark red, with almost no head. Sweet toasty malt aroma with notes of dark fruit and subtle floral notes. Spice notes also come out from behind the sweet aroma specifically clove and a little ginger, almost like a ginger snap. Thick and syrup-like mouth feel. Flavors of dark sugar and slightly bitter notes with a toasty malt flavor. Finishes out with a thick finish leaving a slightly sticky aftertaste.

Bottle. Poured a brown amber with a red tint and minimal head. Aroma was full of grainy notes as well as some sweet notes. Flavor was thick with a strong malt flavor and underlying alcohol notes. Nice and thick on the tongue.

great barley wine...reddish brown pour, no head, no lacing...not overly malty sweet...hides the booze very well...dangerously nice

On tap at Eli Cannon’s (Middletown, CT): Pours clear, deep red and emits an aroma of oxidized, sweet caramel and IPA-esce piney hops. Flavors of sugary citrus peel that just came out of a toaster oven. Full-bodied. Drinkability: Sweet and solid. Rebuy: Yes. #205 on 21112009, DG.