Lagunitas Olde Gnarly Wine

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

a very hoppy barley wine, just the way i like it. almost like an IIPA. sticky and resiny. perhaps a little sprucey. an excellent choice. I’m never let down by Lagunitas

Draft thanks to the Muddy Pig and Hoenstiens. Nostril clearing alcohol and sweat aroma. Tanned red leather color. Tasty candy malt and very smooth mouth filling finish. Left me wondering what aging might turn loose.

Location: 22 oz bottle from Total Wine - Richmond, 7/14/09

Aroma: Smells of dark fruits, caramel, brown sugar, some nice hop notes.
Appearance: Mildly hazy reddish-copper, small creamy off-white head, lots of lacing on the glass.
Flavor: A really nice taste, complex and enjoyable, immediate taste is sweet and fruity, flowing nicely into caramel, and then a wonderful sweet hop backing finishes it off.
Palate: Really smooth for an 11% beer that somehow has no alcohol burn, really nice mouthfeel.
Overall Impression: I’m impressed! This was a very nice beer, it came at a reasonable price, and had a nice taste. Great job of making a big beer, giving it complex flavors, and hiding alcohol pretty well. Really nicely done beer by Lagunitas.

2003 vintage on tap at the Portland Barleywine Long Haul Tour. This barleywine really stands out due to the fruit quality in the malt, hints of apple and sweet cherry gave this brew a great personality and lots of depth amongst the sweet sugary caramel malts. Very well balanced with a smooth mouthfeel. Pours a lighter orange/brown, slightly hazy with a medium white head.

In the bomber bottle at The Brickskeller. 2006 vintage. Pours a clear dark amber with an abundant, but fleeting off-white head. The residual head after die-off is a thin but impermeable layer. The first aroma is of chocolate and alcohol. There’s an essence of wheat in there as well. Little to no lacing remains. The esophageal burn is extreme. This is just too green to drink in its first year of life. The flavor is medicinal. It is thick for sure, but not so thick that you have to chip it out of the glass. You get heartburn from this beer immediately. Aroma of apricots. I think this vintage will mellow nicely with time. The strong hop bitterness is totally lost inside this beer. It seems much stronger than the promised 9.7% ABV. This is a barleywine with a rough edge of still being a child. I’d say 1-2 years of mellowing will do it good. Dave is such a big shot that he should buy these up and store them for a couple of years before even allowing goobers like me to stroll in and order it off the Brick book. It has an outrageous bitter chocolate aroma and flavor. The taste is in fact not far from Gran Marnier. You need a cautious discipline when you drink this. An odd saltiness emerges at mid bottle, or am I just getting drunk? Seems quite bicarbonate in character. Now I’m getting lots of Tootsie Roll candy out of it. Rivlets of alcohol can be seen in the light through the beer. This begins to dehydrate you after awhile. Leaves you with chocolate chip cookie dough burps.

Mmmmm Mmmm delicous. Pour a real purty red-gold pour with very minimal slightly bubbly head. Nose big on heavy malt with lots of sugary sweetness. Dark fruits mixed in as well as a few of the lighter ones as well. Raisin and prune swirl around with a great caramelly mix. Flavorwise it was a true treat. Cherries mixed with all the forementioned aromas with a big but delightful alcohol presence.

Bottle: Courtesy of beerguy101 via trade. Fruity, caramel, light banana bread, and nice hops in the aroma. Pours a transparent bright red with a hint of orange with a nice off-white head. Caramel, fruit (some apple), and cinnamon up front with a very nice citrusy hop finish that blends very well.8-4-8-4-16

2004 botte (sampled on 10/20/06) : Courtesy of lunaticharness. Aromas of toffee, banana bread, caramel, light citrus hops, and a touch of oxidation. Pours a cloudy brownish orange with a small off-white head. Flavor starts with caramel, toffee, hints of banana bread. Mild oxidation is a positive. Finishes with a mild citrus hoppiness. This is aging well.

22 oz bottle. Poured somewhere between amber and copper with a tan head that was gone quickly leaving nice lacing. Nose was fruity and somewhat piny. Really rich on the tongue, and it hides the alcohol well. Flavor of caramel and chocolate. Somewhat sweet but not objectionably so. Almost like drinking a liqueur. Wonderfully executed Barley Wine. Update: Recently drank a 2006 bottle (aged two years in my cellar) This seems to have gotten even better. Great stuff.