Lagunitas Olde Gnarly Wine

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

Pours with a slightly cloudy, deepp amber body topped by a thin to medium thick head with some lacing. It’s sweet and malty with a nice caramel/toffee note, a little candy sugar, and a touch of grapefruit and piney hops. Meidum to full bodied, smooth yet slightly warming.

Tasted at Lagunitas. Hazy brown with a fizzy white head. Caramel malt aroma. Sweet caramel and brown sugar taste with some hoppy bitterness to the finish.

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.

on cask at the Night of the Living Ales IV, this one really surprised me and actually blew me away. wonderful fruity hop aroma and flavor, alcohol hidden really well, this tasted extremely fresh and was extremely drinkable. now i need to re-rate a fresh bottle. 4.2.

4/08/08, 2008 vintage, very fresh sample. pours cleary ruby with creamy off white head. aroma with alcohol, nail polish remover, grapefruit and red fruit hop aroma. flavors have a sweet malt base, a bit alcohol in flavor but not hot, hopped up too, very fruity hop flavors. could use some more bitterness but with the sticky body this resembles an american barleywine very well. pretty good stuff but not as great as the cask sample i recently had. 3.9.

22oz bottle. 2008 vintage, aged about 14 months. pours caramel color with off white head. nose of caramelized malts, honey, nuts. flavors are very caramelly, piney hop notes, nutty finish. the hops have faded in the aroma but are still noticed in the flavor. enjoyed this 1 yr old bottle. 3.9.

2004: Pour is ruby red with a thin sticky tan head...hops in the nose...grapefruit, pine, soap...hops fade a little in the palate...sweet taste...caramel, some hops...quite sticky...good stuff...I don’t think aged could be more improved...a little too sweet....

Thx to elnadeau for sharing. big sticky sweet malty nose and flavor. Poured w/o head w/ a clear amber body. Very easy drinking

Bottle; tailgate tasting at Rose Bowl. Best of the tasting. Poured a reddish brown/amber color with a tannish color head. Aroma of sweet malt, sugar, fruit, and chewy caramel. Quite sweet. Flavor was sweet and delicious. Sugary, malty and fruity. Alcohol is hidden very well; could drink alot of this. Liked the mellowness of the hops. Great beer.

Twenty ’Aught-6 (2006 Vintage)

9/03/2008: Lagunitas Olde GnarleyWine Style Ale looks, smells, and tastes great. Its appearance in deep honey-brown color with a diminishing brown crown. Massive amounts of sweet caramelized malt and aged citrus/orange hops flow from the aroma. There is also a hint of vanilla inside the creamy rich caramel aroma along with a tinge of smooth alcohol. The maltiness is sweet and heavy in the front and is marked by rich, creamy caramel with the mild to moderate orange hop flavor and bitterness beggining in the middle and fading off toward the balanced finish. The finish also presents rich fruits including dried apricot, sweet dates, prune, and a hint of tobacco. Nearly no alcohol is apparent in the flavor. The mouthfeel is very full, thick and chewy, yet very smooth and easy to drink at the same time. This is another dangerous beer that is probably best enjoyed by sipping slowly...

1 Pint 6 Fluid Oz bottle (I.B.U. 69.39 / O.G. 1.096 / Alc. 9.7% by Vol. / $4.99+tax). Rating #466 for this beer...