Moylans Old Blarney Barley Wine

Brewed by Moylans Brewery & Restaurant
Style: Barley Wine
Novato, California USA

deep amber/reddish color, head is frothy and tan. nose has lots of brown sugar and light hoppiness. flavor is flavor has lots of brown sugar and earthiness with a decent amount of bitterness...quite sweet this one!

22 ounce bottle purchased at BevMo. Light citrus orange hoppiness present in the nose, with some caramel sweet maltiness. A bit roasted, too. Attractive moderately hazy ruby-amber body with a large, fluffy manilla colored head. Great lacing and great head retention. Starts with a light fruitiness. Has some orangey citric flavor initially. A little sweet. Big toasty maltiness in the middle. Quite toasted, which is then finished with some quite bitter, resinous grapefruit hoppiness. Mildly ethanolic finish. This is a different barleywine. It is not as vinous as many and it almost borders on being an IIPA. There are plenty of toasted malts, which gives it a nice chewiness.

I can kind of see why people like this, but this is not what I’d call barleywine. It is more of a fairly hoppy American strong ale, rather like an inferior cousin of Stone’s Arrogant Bastard. It’s a cloudy red amber with a thin, bubbly off-white head with orange hints that lasts and leaves a little weak lacing. Aroma is malty caramel with pronounced hops. The taste has definite strong, caramel malt, but has far too much hop power and bitterness, making it bitter and leaving rough palate and finish the leaves my mouth feeling like I pressed it to a dry towel. Another flop from Moylan’s for me.

aroma is brown sugar, roast turkey skin, resin. i like the tawny orange color. oddly light in the mouth. while the malt comes on in honeyed waves, with an occasional burnt tinge, efintie alcohol, the hop edge a bit metallic, thus a three way clash.

Bottle. Toffee, vanilla aroma with lots of brown sugar. The alcohol really comes through in the aroma. Not overly hoppy or malty, which is a refreshing take on a barleywine, especially one from CA. Well done.

22 oz bottle - pours a brown-amber with light carbonation. aroma of malt, caramel, cherry, raisin, english esters, and a touch of american northwest hops. seems a bit cloying in the aroma, perhaps underattenuated? But at 10% abv, it doesn’t seem like it’s feasible to dry out much more. the flavor is initially sweet and full-bodied, with toasted grains and excellent malt presence without some of the oversweetness of the aroma. some green hops bitterness - cascades or centennials in the finish, as some of the sugar fades away from the palate, the hops finally get to come out. some peaty and earthy brown flavors as well - i quite like this beer. an appropriate blend of english- and american-style barley wines.

Pours a dark copper color with a tan head. Aroma is sweet malts, caramel, dark fruits, and alcohol. Flavor is of toasted malts, caramel, dark fruits, and toffee up front. Finishes with a slight bitterness and a little alcohol warming. I’m glad it wasn’t overally hopped like most American barley wines but still lacked a little on the flavor. Still it’s a pretty good brew.

Pours a caramel hue. Nice malty aroma. A bit bitter, with a malt, caramel and nutty flavor. A bit viscous. Quite a light barleywine. Good for someone who hadn’t had a BW before. Not incredibly complex or interesting, but a decent offering.