Lagunitas Olde Gnarly Wine

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

Pours dark ruby with a thick head. Alcohol nose. Hoppy but not too hoppy. A perfectly balanced ale with essence of dried fruits and caramel. A huge beer that is at the level of Old Horizontal.

Very hoppy smell. Silky smooth like maple syrup with a mahogany color to match. Wonderful hoppy yet syruppy flavor. Way hopped-up; non-traditional.

My first barley wine. I found it very rick, with flavors that seemed to remind me of maple syrup or caramel, I cant quite place my finger on it. I loved it though.

Beautiful orange/brown colour with almost no head. Fantastic malty and hoppy nose only overpowered by the taste of brown sugar, charamel, and lots of hops. This is almost a DIPA, and although the style may not be a pure/traditional barley wine, it is my favourite kind of barley. The american tradition shines through. This bottle is a year old, but has not changed at all, as far as I remember. I really wanted to save this at least another year, but as I am going to New York on vacation monday, I wanted something to set the scene for long avaited trip. Fantastic beer!

VINTAGE: Twenty’Aught-9 This pours a medium-dark amber color, with some nice ruby highlights. It has a thin head of light, creamy, tan colored foam. This is really just a surface covering film, with a couple of islands of bubbles. The lacing is almost web-like and quite sticky. This is a damn fine smelling barleywine. It smells huge, rich and decadent. Just the way I like them to be. There is a big presence of rich, sweet, malts. Loads of brown sugar presence, along with about a ton of butterey caramels. A light touch of roasted nuttiness. Very light hint of hops. Deliciously enticing. The taste follows the nose, completely. Everything that is there, is also here, and there are no unannounced guests. This one is very rich and delicious. Full-bodied, without question. A very nice, low-to-medium level of carbonation. Very smooth, with a mild level of creaminess. Okay, 11.00%abv, combined with richness of flavor, make this one a fantastic sipper. This is not designed for mass consumption, but it is meant for mass enjoyment. Absolutely delicious.

A big ass Oreo cookie aroma! My drinking mates and I jumped back at this unique, potent and funny aroma. I’m also getting some Tootsie-Pop. Oooh this is nice. Low effervescence, blunt and well-balanced malt flavors. My Friday evening is starting off nicely... Bill, this one’s jumping the Georgia border just for you! If this keeps the nose and gains vinous qualities this is a winner.

Wham! Big fresh hop nose with some caramel tones. Dark amber color a tall foamy head. Big malty base with dark fruit and berry tones. Wham! hops again at towards the end with a massive bitterness. Great transitions, though, and an overall superb balance. The alcohol adds a kick to the flavor in the tradition of Bigfoot and other west coast barleywines that I truly love. Wham!

Smallish one finger head after a fairly rough pour into a Gulden Draak goblet, cloudy dark amber color, nice toasty malt and citric hop aroma, thick and full bodied, roasted malt flavors and fairly strong hop bitterness. This is definitely an American Barley Wine based on the bitterness and the type of hops used. I would prefer a little less cloudiness. Regardless, this is a damn good beer.

Re-rate: On tap at the 2003 Toronado Barleywine Festival: Wonderfully blended. Vanilla. Woody. Great malt flavor. Almost no hop presence. Nice though!