Moylans Old Blarney Barley Wine

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

Poured a very dark brown, darker than most barley wines. Aroma was malty, bready, and some burning alcohol and spicy hops. The hops seemed to be a little muted at least more than i was expecting. Very sweet flavor. Had an odd tartness on the top of my mouth.

Botlle. Dark ruby with a medium hinted white head. Yeast aroma also with some toffee, dry fruit, and sweet cookies. Very thick, potent rich stuff. Dark toasty caramel and actually reasonably dry. A good enough BW.

Bomber from Julios in Western Mass. Dark brown with medium-sized, well carbonated head. Nose is alcohol, heavy malts, sweet caramel, raisins and a bit of oak. Initial taste--is this beer oxidized? Not as sweet and full flavored as expected. Very Light body for the style, imho. A second sip-still tastes kind of off for the style--much more mild and oaky than expected. Sweet at first touch of the palate but quickly moves to a more subtle mouthfeel that leaves you with the bitterness from the hops. A strange brew I must say. Just not as "in your face" as expected I guess. I love the Hopsickle IPA by these guys, but I can’t seem to get to the bottom of this one.

Bottle shared with Hogtown Harry, Blankboy, and MDS courtesy of Harry. Dark reddish brown, small white head. Rich alcohol, malt aroma - powerful stuff lies ahead. Restrained (!) taste - so balanced between rich malt and some alcohol - complex and sweet. Soft hops come in near the middle. Wow, what a balanced complex barleywine, unfortunately the alcohol does take over after a bit. Add this to the very short list of beers with Irish themed names that do not suck. And I should add this tastes nothing like the blarney stone - I visited many years ago, did the tourist thing and kissed it, only to be told later by the locals that teenage kids often go at night and piss on it, just to get a laugh from all the tourists the next day...

Bottle shared with HogTownHarry, mds & tupalev -- courtesy of HogTownHarry. Pours a hazy ruby with a small tan head. Sweet fruity aroma with caramel malt, lots of hops and some wood. Oakey, sweet malty flavour with bitter hops and dark fruit. Alchol’s pretty well hidden for the most part. Medium bodied. Pretty good, I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Bottle (650ml). Shared with blankboy, mds and tupalev, my bottle. Poured clear ruby with a decent creamy tan head. Bitter hoppy/leafy aroma, plenty of alcohol, slight woody malt. Taste of bitter astringent hops and alcohol, wood subtle malt - simple but really, REALLY nice. Thick body, solid astringency, alcoholic and sticky mouthfeel, long bitter finish - just an excellent barleywine, glad I have another one to age.

The aroma is quite lackluster on this beer. A little bit of carmel malt or toffee smell comes through, maybe some nutty or bready smell...just a little, and then maybe a hint of some hops come through. nothin stands out and nothing really "wows" me from it. The body/mouthfeel on this is fairly weird to me, it starts off very thick and creamy...very good, but then finishes very light and almost thin. Not quite sure what to make of it. The flavos are pretty bland, not really my ideal barleywine. its not bad, but far from good...just very mediocore. I dunno, I really just dont have much to take away from this beer...I guess one thing to take away was that the 10% alcohol was very well hidden.

Bottle courtesy of Hogtownharry: Poured a nice burgundy color ale with an above average foamy head with good retention. Aroma of sweet malt and some powerful hops. Taste has some caramel malt with some sweetness reminiscent of plums with an aftertaste that has some citrusy hops. Body is a bit too light for the style IMHO and alcohol was well hidden. Not bad overall but I generally like my barleywine to be more malt base then a hoppy affair.