Lagunitas Olde Gnarly Wine

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

it should be news to very few that this brew would have a wonderful fragrant and inticing taste profile. i mean where do you consistantly find a better malt character in any brewer. slick velvet and candy sweet with everything you want in a malt brew and more. so well balanced and my bottle had zero broomstraw attitude. just superfresh and clean tasting aged malt. alcohol taste that doesnt bother. pleased and still slightly surprised that ths hop character is a little mute. but again we do have a wonderfully complex and tasty brew with find body very good balance and fine sipping warmth even on a warm day.

Draft at Oldsmar Tap House. Pours a reddish amber with little head. Aroma is sweet and alcoholic. Flavor is more of the same, with very little hoppiness rounding it out. It’s a bit too one-dimensional and too alcoholic. Just average.

22 oz. brown bomber bottle. 2007 Autumn batch. Poured out a brilliant copper color, with a huge tan colored head. Aromas are of cedar aged cigars, caramel, grainy malts, sweet, fragrant hops. Flavors are of burnt sugars, sweet hops, caramel, some tropical fruits, malts galore. Thick mouthfeel, rich and chewy. Sweet aftertaste. I’ve been waiting a few years to try this beer, and it did not disappoint.

From the cask at Night of the Living Ales in Chicago. This was one of my favorite beers of the night. Aroma of dark fruits and spice. Hides the 9.7% alcohol very well. Nice malt flavor and it is well balanced. I need to get some bottles of this.

Pours a nice copper color with 2 fingers of white head. Aroma of malt, fruits, sugar, hops and citrus. Taste of Fruit, malt, sugar, hops all come together fairly well in this one with a nice sweet finish. Pretty gnarly brew. ;) For the price I’m not complaining.

Poured from bomber. Pours a hazelnut-and-ruby-red color with an attractive creamy tan head. Beautiful pour! Nutty aroma, with a sizeable helping of flowery hops. Flavor is full-bodied and vibrant, and carbonation is tastefully subdued. I tasted walnut, dark fruit, light caramel, wood. I keep sensing traces of milk chocolate as well. Very, very tasty. Finishes with a warming touch, probably the well-hidden alcohol. If I were to have one minor complaint, I would say the body is a touch thin. But overall, this is absolutely delicious. Olde Gnarly Wine is simultaneously a great intro into the world of big beers for newbies, as well as a very satisfying beer for BW-style junkies.

Bottle. Pours a briliant deep amber with a large long lasting light tan head that leaves great lacing. Aroma of sweet caramel, toffee, and a hint of citrus. Taste is the same as aroma with a touch of dark fruit and a hint of smooth alcohol. Full mouthfeel with a moderate well balanced bitterness and well hiden alcohol. Very good.

Bomber. Clear orange with a medium head; nice lacing. Aroma of pine and citrus hops, pineapple, caramel and sweet cherries. A bit warm, but nicely drinkable for the high ABV. Mostly sweet with a slightly bitter/grape-skin finish. I’m always amazed at the number of good beers that Lagunitas puts out at bargain prices. Here’s another one.