Moylans Old Blarney Barley Wine

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

Deep red color thick tan head. Huge malt aroma and raisins everywhere. Straighforward and borderline unimpressive in the mouth. my bottle didn’t have a very good hop presence but a nice alcohol warming at the end. Wouldn’t be too bad except I thought the flavor was nasty.

Pours a lovely ruby color. Slowly rising bubbles look like they are moving through syrup. Aroma is sweet, hoppy and a little candy like. Flavor is malty with a strong hoppy bitterness towards the finish. Slight alcohol taste but it is not a bad thing. Thick rich mouthfeel. Great balance of flavor. Nothing overpowering. Good stuff.

Bottle. Pours a deep ruby color, almost as dark as a strong ale, compact white head that left lacing all over my glass, just a beauty to look at. First glass was clear, some sediment in the second pour. Aroma is gently hoppy, faint hints of malt, ethanol, and smoke. Flavor is very sweet, good malt backbone, fruity, hoppy, and nice alcohol burn in the finish. Not very massive in the mouth for a barley wine, but very well rounded feel and flavor. I really enjoyed drinking this, but it didn’t quite have the kick of a good barley wine that would have put it into the 4’s.

like it on first cracking the crown, rich, malty, sweet, boozy barleywine goodness wafts out from the start...pours a beautiful mahogany, deep crimson at base, with a sturdy slab of creamy pale-yellow foam above. In the nose, it’s classic b’wine: rich, complex, deep, dark notes, of leather, wood, cognac, cherries, grapes, some devilish spices, a wicked elixir, to be sure...and just the way I like it! Taste: Huge mouthfeel, enormous, dominates every inch of the mouth, coats the palate with this thick, slick roasty, fruity, deeply divine deliciousness.... full-bodied, long, thick, fruity finish...wow, and the 10% abv does peek it’s nose in early, you can taste it, and I currently like it...powerful prominence, this flavor, fat, full, and richly rewarding...this is a humdinger-inger of a barleywine, like Bigfoot’s big brother! Each sip lets you slip into a new subsection of Nirvana, let the soul loose on tasting this one, brothers, so that the spirit can stretch farther while feeling it’s joys in all it’s complexities. Big thumbs ...wait, how many do I have? well, they’re all going up, up, up!

Bottle. BevMo Geary St. SF. My first impression of this beer while pouring it is that I witnessed actual chunks plopping into my glass. Not a pleasant site. It reminded me of pouring some week old milk into a glass while I was in college. You can’t tell me this was the way this beer was intended to be. I didn’t see many others describing similar experiences in their ratings, so I must have had an old bottle. A B-wine should be able to last, but not this one. It freaked me out so much I strained it with a coffee filter. Sweet, not overly alcoholic aroma for 10%. Veru thick, opaque brown. Off-white ring. Smooth, high alcohol flavor. Chocolate and caramel notes. Not bad. Nice subtle, hop finish. Very restrained for a barley wine.

I’ve had this bottle for a little over a year now. Opens with big head, no loss of power there, medium brown amber body. Bready aroma. Flavor is also bready, medium bodied, and malt oriented, almost English in style. As it warmed, some fruitiness opened up (plums?), and an anise and nutty element became evident, nicely contrasting the bready malts. There was also a faint oxidized note that somehow actually made this one better. Finished better than it started.

Malt astringent and slightly metallic. Big mouthfeel and some balanced hops. Thin midpalate with alcohol spice and heat. Asringent finish with some hop resin and bitterness. Mild overripe fruits and some marzipan and pralines.

Tasted in LA. Obtained in NorCal - Berkeley. Appearance is deep mud brown, opaque with very little head (in fact, absolutely none out of the bottle). Aroma is malty, slightly sweet, musty and grainy. Flavour is sweet, molasis, slightly bitter finish.