Moylans Old Blarney Barley Wine

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

Thanks to hopsrus for sending this a while ago! Bottle-conditioned, medium to deep brown body, very cloudy with a low light brown head. Aroma is intensely hoppy, grapefruity, lemony. Hops hide most of the rest. Definitely west coast in mouth too, huge cascade grapefruity hops, resinous, piney and quite overwhelming actually. A hint of caramel is noticeable, but it feels like the hops keep it from expressing its glory. Very bitter dry finish. Creamy mouthfeel, very interesting, with a perfect amount of carbonation and feeling not unlike a fudge bar that melts in the mouth. Looks ain’t everything!

Clear red brown. Nice nose, pine and citric hops assert themselves, also a bit of caramel sweetness as a balance. Malts upfront are OK, some toffee there, but fades a bit. Hops come on nicely, good kick, nice bitterness. Not bad at all.

This one has a beautiful ruby brown body with a light khaki head that explodes out of the bottle. Irritation from having to wait to let it settle keeps this from getting a 5 on appearance. The aroma is malty, with a good bit of piney hops. The flavor is caramel apples supported by a firm bitterness. The malts are soft and the hops are metallicly hard, which actually makes for a nice contrast. The burps come up like creosote, though.

big caramel aroma, with hints of pine and citrus. a hazy copper color with a creamy head. taste of caramel and fruit. very smooth and creamy. ending in a slight hop bitternes.

This ruddy orange-red-brown beer is punctuated by an aroma of piney hops, sweet burnt caramel, and toast. A very slight off-white head developed after the pour. The very thick, syrupy body lends a surprisingly unique flavor of sugary caramels, toast, and earthy/grassy hops. Also classic grapefruit and pine. The earthy/toasty aspect is more pronounced in this beer than in other barleywines I’ve sampled, and lends a unique "leafy" character to Old Blarney. Delicious, even on a sunny, 86-degree spring day!

Deep brown, copper in colour. Aroma was of sweet caramel malt, minor alcohol, and citrus hops. The flavour was quite sweet, thick texture, creamy mouthfeel, caramel malt and some hops. Finishes smooth with a mild bitterness and some alcohol. Thanks for sending this as an extra jeffc666.

Rich wood colour - somewhere between teak and mahogany perhaps. Very malty and sweet aromas with some fruit in there too....odd but I can't decide between oranges and apples? Alchohol evident as the sweet but subdued hoppy mouthfull finishes.

Pours a caramel brown, settles a dark and thickly hazed golden-orangey brown color with a medium sized ivory fluffy froth. Lace sticks in inky webs at first but as it goes nearly no lace decides to stick. Notably strong twingey caramel/alcohol aroma at first but fades as it warms. Lushfully solid caramel nose with an alcoholic warmth and tone always sifting underneath. Notes of fresh banana, mango, orange, lingering dark dulled citrusy skins are favorably smokey within. Taste of darkened hard caramel candies, the caramel is very nice here, kinda dark or perhaps even scorched a little, not quite smooth, roughly edgy with some suppressed earthy tones in the hop backing. Nice touches of chocolate and butterscotch candies float around within and a moderate warmth and subdued burn along the way down keep it from being completely smooth and drinkable. Very light notes of fruit and citrus linger here and there. Feel is a bit hindered with a fluffy chalkyness, yet smooth and inviting smoothness continues to keep hold. Not an overly complex or beefy barleywine. Sits just right on a cold and windy March evening with a good load of malted caramel, something I'd have no problem having again.