Lagunitas Olde Gnarly Wine

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

22 oz. bomber. Pours a bright and clear garnet color with crimson highlights. Initial pour forms a thick and creamy beige head with fairly strong retention. No lacing observed. Nicely balanced aroma profile noted on first sniff between the malts and hops. There is a very fruity nose to this barleywine noted right upfront. However, as with a few of the other Lagunitas brews I’ve sampled ( Brown Shugga and Hairy Eyeball come to mind) there eems to be a faint, distracting, slightly off background smell of over-ripe fruits. A mild citrusy, spicy hop aroma nicely comes through to balance the sweet caramel candy, ripe fruit and chocolate malt-ball nose. Mouthfeel was quite big and chewy with a slightly oily texture. Taste profile was also very well balanced starting off with immediate sweet flavors of caramelized brown sugar, Grape Nuts cereal, red apple, toffee and some molasses. This quickly transcends into a firm grapefruit rind and herbal-like hop bitterness which nicely balances this big, rich BW out in the finish. Definitely a sipper as the 9.7% has a notable warmth. At $3.79/bomber this is an exceptional deal on a very tasty BW.

Pure West Coast barleywine, sporting huge portions of both chewy malt and almost savage hops.

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.

2002: Radiant brass shade. Creamy, retentive ring of foam. Aroma of jellied candy, pineapple, cotton, plum, leaf, and phenols; vague caramel, spruce tips, and white grape undertones. Wonderful, seemingly bottle conditoned palate: velvety, softly sappy. Initial leafy, earthy bitterness followed by a subtle tanginess, pine sap, marmalade, maraschino cherry, fig, soft notes of caramel, and wood notes. Long, balanced finish of toffee glazed malts, peppery alcohol, numbing alpha acids, apple stem, soil, tobacco, and accompanying mellow pineapple hop belches. Bready, caramel malts and obscure piney notes emerge as it reaches room temp. Sadly, a very average aroma, but the flavor and palate are nearly flawless. A particularly impressive offering from this redundant brewery.

Dark amber color with a beige head. Aroma and flavor of dark fruits/berries, toffee and hops.

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.

On tap at The Thirsty Monk. Sweet brown sugar, caramel and toffee. Huge sweet nose with fresh hops that are fruity and floral. Coppery amber clear with thin off-white lacing head. Medium heavy body with medium carbonation. Tastes like caramel and cotton candy with some floral-fruity hops thrown in. Mild warming. Nice barley wine.

Pure madness - from the first sip. Great. Red color, big foamy head. Soft carbonation. Head leaves nice laces on the glass. Nice intense fruity and red berry nose. Wonderful hoppy taste, horse blanket with malt undertones. Sweet kick at the end, medium when kind of bubble gum aftertaste but not unlikely. It is a chameleon - as the lable says, each sip another experience but all of them good ones. It's a great brew and suprisingly the alcohol doesn't come through that at 9.7 % vol.