Lagunitas Olde Gnarly Wine

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

’04 on tap at Hard Liver. Very smooth....still a bit of hops left after 3 years. Good sweetness and alcohol is very subdued. Slight floral aroma.

Bottle of the 2008. Aroma is a great candied pineapple. Flavor reminds me of a really good fruitcake. Sticky sweet with a nice piney hop backbone that doesn’t overpower, even though it is a very fresh bottle.

From Bottle. Cherry amber colored pour with a small beige head that quickly diminishes to a sticky caramel ring. Aroma of starwberries glazed with caramel sauce and garnished with tangerine zest and a fresh squeeze of peach juice. Thick, syrupy mouthfeel with tons of sweet passion fruit, mango, sticky pineapple, and ripened pear. Pleasantly sweet palate is followed nicely by some white grapefruit hop tones, but could be a touch stronger to minimize the cloying effect of the sugary fruits. Final smack of spiced fig and maple syrup.

Bomber. Pours slightly hazy dark orange-amber with a moderate tan head. Aroma is sweet, fresh citrus, along with some caramel malt. Flavor is sticky malt, with a fairly complex mixture of flavors---caramel, citrus, light fruits, set off with a bit of resiny citrus hops, some earthy hops towards the finish, and a bit of peppery spice. Thick mouthfeel, and slight alcohol kick. A bit on the maltier side of the scale for American barleywines. This is quite well done, and interesting enough to stand out in a way that Lagunitas beers usually don’t.

Bottle. Moderate malt aromas of roasted and caramel, heavy orange for the hops, light leather for the yeast, with notes of date, toffee, brown sugar and vanilla. Head is small, frothy, off-white, with almost no lacing but has good legs, and is mostly diminishing. Color is clear, flat orange/copper. Flavor started moderately sweet and lightly acidic, then finishes lightly acidic and moderately bitter/sweet. Palate is medium to full, syrupy, has a carbonation between flat and soft, and finishes lightly alcoholic. A heavy, full bodied Barley Wine to be savored at length.

22 oz. bottle - pours clear, dark amber with almost no head; sweet, malty aromas; drinks a little rich and very smooth; IMO, just a notch below the brown sugga’ 3/9/08 update - snifter @ beverage place barleywine bacchanal; 2004 vintage; texture was a little flat with the age, but this was very good and had developed a lovely texture to it

Bomber shared with Lee and Aaron. Pours amber red with a thin white head. Aroma is big and malty with a huge hop nose. Powerful malty taste with tons hops trying to balance it all out. Hops are much more bitter than I expected, but still a very smooth barley wine. Finishes with a big bitter hop finish.

hapjydeuce brought this to the PP bottle shop. I can’t believe I haven’t tried/rated this yet. Thanks Justin! Deep amber color. Lots of carmelization/melanoidins. Sweet. Bitterness is mild. It’s a bit young fresh and needs some aging to take the bite off.