Max Old 320 Barley Wine

Cask: Pours a deep amber brown color with a tan head. Aroma is caramel, toffee, and some hops. Flavor is malty, caramel, and a bitter earthy citrus hop finish.

Color is a nice clear reddish-brown. Aroma is strong and malty, not complex but promising. Flavor is strongly malty with quite an alcohol bite - typical of a barleywine - and a hint of caramel or toffee. Texture is smooth but a little edgy, and it goes down with a hint of liquid fire.

Cask @ ATL Cask Ale Fest ’08. Notes of hops, malt and toffee. Decent but not great.

Appearance: Pours a murky, dark brown body with a thin, wispy beige head. Smell: Muddled aroma of various notes - dark caramel, citrus, pine, and even a pinch of roast. Taste: Earthy, soil-strewn dark caramel flavor with, well, not much sweetness. Citrusy, piney hops with a moderate bitterness that lasts into the finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: One of those beers that is only a barleywine by name alone.

Tasted at Atlanta Cask Ale fest. Pours a deep cloudy ruby color. Aroma of fruit and hops. Taste of sweet malts, fruit, and hops. Finish is hoppy.

Date: 01/28/2006
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewpub

clear dark amber, frothy tan head, dripping lace, huge earthy hop aroma on a slightly sweet carmel malt base, slightly thin body, rich carmel malt flavor well balanced with plenty of bitterness, a bit of sweetness shows up after a while
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Date: 01/28/2006
Mode: atl cask fest

clear dark amber, frothy tan head, big sweet piney aroma, huge carmel malt flavor, lots of sweetness tempered by some earthy hop bitterness, well balanced, a good notch above the keg version
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Date: 01/26/2008
Mode: cask
Words: acat

a lot drier this year with the dark caramel dried out by lots of earthyness,

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 4/10; Overall: 11/20
Rating: 2.9/5.0
Drinkability: 6/10
Score: *4

This was a pretty crappy barleywine. I almost asked the bartender if he gave me the pale ale or ipa instead. No body at all to this and mostly hop forward. There is no way this 9.8% either. Pretty bland and unimpressive.

Ruby, large puffy off-white head. Nose is caramel, some light hop, fruit (bananna, peach.) Flavor is caramel, soapy bitterness, light plastic. Hops are quite subdued. Very thin body. Wishy washy.