Lagunitas Olde Gnarly Wine

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

Lustrous red orange color with a thick caramel head. Lovely hop aroma with a delightful, subtle malt interplay. This is not a barley wine--how could it possibly be? This, if not an IPA, is an American Strong Ale--and a paridigm for the style. Awesome profusion of hops imparted with a fruity peach flavor. The alcohol is excellently masked. I will be taking this one with me to Golden Gardens grill outs this summer. Superb.

1999 vintage sampled in early 2006. Deep orange amber. Nose bready, some sweet fruit. Sugary. Hops are quite muted by this point, good malt base, candyish sugars, some banana and berry. Has aged rather well.

Tap at Redbones: Poured cloudy orange with a thick dissipating cream colored head. Big malty/hop aroma. Flavor is nicely balanced with fruit hoppiness and sweet malts. Very tasty.

Semi-hazy and glowing cherry bronze in color with graceful lace as we go. Ripe walnuts filled with raspberry vinaigrette kick start that flagrant aroma, followed soon thereafter by wet dog rolling in strawberry fields, figs and black raspberry Fabreeze. Formidable bitterness and flavor drive. Cherry amaretto and cream cheese take the lead. Black and red raspberry medley mixed with boysenberry juice. Sugary danish breadiness nearly buts heads with the bitterness levels, but they march into single file eventually. Thanks for the bottle, tpkenned!

Nearly clear reddish brown, moderate head with good lacing and retention. Aroma is fairly fruity with notes of citrus, grapefruit and peach. Malt is mostly caramel with sugary notes as well, like most of their beers. Vanilla and alcohol sneak in at the end. Fairly sweet with some warming. Enjoyable but didn’t come off as a 3.9 range BW.

Look is dark amber to almost red with a decent beige colored head. Smell is fruit, alcohol, caramel, malts, and hops. Taste is sweet, fruits, alcohol, grapes, and warmth.

courtesy of markwise. Thanks for this amazing gem. early 08 bottle. Pours copper with beige head, nice golden lacing. Aroma had the typical Lagunitas signature, strong notes of caramel malts. Taste, some hops, really malty with some caramel and faint brown sugar.

A dark orange to amber appearance. The aroma is more similar to a hopped up pale ale than your standard barleywine, some grapefruits and piney. An orange and grapefruit flavor with a definite hop presence and not much alcohol showing. Overall this is very good and well balanced. In the west coast mold for sure.