Lagunitas Olde Gnarly Wine

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

650 ml, 2008 release. Creamy, quarter inch head stays atop the clear ruby-copper body and deposits frosting all over the glass. Aromas of caramel, orange, oak and light cocoa. Flavors of toffee, oak, earthy-spiced raisin, chocolate, whiskey, vanilla, orange and resin. Medium-heavy body is smoothly carbonated, a little sticky in a nice way, and finishes slightly dry.

2006 22 Oz Bottle. Aroma is surprisingly subdued. There’s notes of faint chocolate plums, honeysuckle perfume and strong glowing embers of melted raisins. Sugars and musky mens cologne. Hints of West Coast hops. Pour of clear fire red, with orange fringes a carmine center and a swirling head of tanned hide. Flavor is respectable, with heavy cream and sherry. Rich raisined malts are perfuse with more touches of chocolate and long basking rays of caramelization. In the backend, strong alcohol heat senses the humours and carries swift currents of tawny fruits and amber honey. The hops show in resin format, almost entirely, as this long linger subtle reminder of parching dryness and balancing parafin wax. Candy wrapper delight. Alcohol stings just a bit too much, but the hop balance is delectable. Needs a touch more complexity and character. Body is great. Thanks AndY!

Pours a dark copper amber color, with a big fluffy light tan head. Nice lacing. A little bready, with a lot of dark malt and dark fruit, especially apples and figs. Pretty standard barley wine aroma. Maybe got a touch of gingerbread in there as well. The flavor seems to have a large dark fruit presence as well. I got some plums, grapes, and apples all fighting for supremacy. The bready yeast flavors I usually get in BW’s were seemingly kept under wraps for the most part. Not too bitter for a barley wine, I rather enjoyed this brew.

Draught. Dark Copper. Pungent, fresh aroma, very reminiscent of Old Boardhead in its nose. Soft but sharp hops, along with fruity malt and caramel. Taste is strongly affected by a major lack of body and texture. Very hoppy (grapefruit, pineapple, orange) along with lacking very sweet malt (fruit, cherries mainly, medicine and caramel).

This may be the best barley wine I’ve had yet. To me that means it is actually drinkable. Aroma of Vicks, hops and alcohol. Pour was a cloudy brown...but what is that? A head. 1 finger no less. Taste was very hoppy and not incredibly hot. Still had the Vicks and heavy hot malt, but it was a tad subdued (maybe because it was on tap?). Wouldn’t try it again, but I don’t regret that I did.

Bottle 2003 vintage. This is a good one. I have to admit, I'm partial to barleywines as it is, and this one is a great example of the style imo. Pours thick and the color of a moderately used penny in the mid-day sun. The head rises out of the liquid, creamy and full, leaving beautiful lacing as it languidly diminishes. The aroma feature sweet, rich roasted malts and lots of them, balanced with a generous portion of hops and prominent alcohol profile. Specifically there are notes of apricots, dried pie cherries, grapefruit, molasses and pine. Flavor is bold and assertive, sweet, tart, bitter and astringent all blended together in a brash, yet wonderfully nuanced liquid glory. Mouthfeel is smooth, rich, full and creamy. I've got another bottle too, just waiting to delight me once again in a year or so.

Twenty ’Aught 06 release. Pours garnet into a snifter. Head quickly recedes to skim rim. Dark caramel, pine and resin aromas. Sticky and full with upfront melted dark caramel and a lasting resin finish.

Good malty (some bread and earth) and hoppy mix, nice (but all) pine, and ultimately a good bit of sugary sweetness. Became cloying, sticky, a tad uncomfortable in the back of the mouth . Looked nice, smooth, slippery mouthfeel and I bet the wife will like the rest of the bottle. I felt the alch. right away!