Lagunitas Olde Gnarly Wine

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

Brown body, small khaki head. Sweetish aroma of gingerbread and rye, malt, muted dark sugar notes. Sweet malt flavour, more prominent dark sugars with light hop bitterness that accents the dry caramel notes nicely. The dryness keeps it from becoming cloying. Medium palate (3+). Quite nice! 7+/3/9/3+/17-18

Pours clear reddish amber with medium white head, mostly diminishing. Aroma is strong Cascade hops. Flavor is same with some sweet malt too. Long bitter finish. Delicious! Not as complex as say an Arrogant Bastard but very good for hop lovers. Alcohol is not apparent in flavor.

One of the last Lagunitas beers to show up in Georgia, Olde GnarlyWine came in a Limited Release 22 oz. bomber. The copper colored body was hazy and alive with lots of carbonation streamers. The dense head was good looking at two fingers thick, and growing. The smell was indicative of the generous hopping rate used in the recipe. It was not a piney and bitingly resinous hoppyness in the nose like the Bigfoot I had just yesterday. Instead these were softer, citric, and somewhat earthy hops. The taste was quite a bit sweeter than what I was expecting from one of the big boys from the West Coast. The residual sugars from the wort were still pretty evident, and the spicy and earthy hops could not provide and equal match up. The fruity richness of drizzled pears, apricots, and peaches came in wave after luscious sticky wave. Quite a full mouthfeel with a tinge of sourness in the finish. Rich, rich, rich, but will perhaps prove too sweet for some people.

Pours with a substantial, frothy head; nice, heavy citric, doughy, caramel and biscuit aroma; complex malty flavor, notes of toffee, cola, charcoal, and licorice, maybe a hint of smokey/pheonals; ample bitter grapefruit balance; silky and creamy mouthfeel, full bodied; this is an excellent barleywine.

BOttle Pours a deep ruby amber with very littel light tan head. Sheets of very attractive lacing. Wonderfull aromas of caramel, plums, raisons, vanilla and alcohol. Flavor is more pitted fruit, apples, and lots of hops that come up to the front slow ans strong. Leaves a heavy hop aftertaste but more of a warming deep taste as opposed to the sharp bite of an 2IPA. Rich and heavy feel that slides down with a slight burn on the first sip. Very nice. This bomber is going to do me in.

These big, hot, sherry-like beers are an acquired taste for sure. Luckily, thanks in part to a few great offerings from Lagunitas, I have acquired the taste. This one is definitely big, you can taste the alcohol, but the sherry-like notes are predominant in the malt profile. Draught at Circa in High Bridge, NJ 9/1/07. A snifter full of this hot, heady brew after given time to uncool down to 55 or 52 degrees will either put you in a haze or break you out of one.

Pours deep ruby/coppery with minimal head. Complex aroma of fruit, berries, figs, toffee, alcohol, and cabernet. Tastes full-bodied, with tons of fruit and a slightly astringent finish as it warms. The alcohol appears, but it never impedes the fruit, malt, or hops. Good complexity. I don’t see this as an elite barleywine, but it is one of the better ones.

Pour: Amber, a little hazy, visible yeast. Small dense white head. Strong hops aroma, caramel and brown sugar. Dense, lively palate. Strong hops. Brown sugar and hops, mostly, alcohol is very well hidden.