Pike Old Bawdy Barley Wine

Brewed by Pike Pub & Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Seattle, Washington USA

Deep dirty brown pour with tan head. Aromas of hops, caramel and darker fruits. Flavor is the same with a nice hop presence.

<b>Regular</b> version.2006 bottle sampled Jan 1 2009. Pours flat with almost no head, a clear syrupy golden amber in color. Strong aroma of caramel barleywine, some citrus. Relatively dry flavor, especially in the finish, given the aroma; lots of caramel tones but these are quickly subsumed by an almost spicy dryness swept along with lots of grapefruit pith. Decent but but neither subtle nor exceptional in any other way. 7/3/7/4/14=3.5

<b>Oak aged</b> version (’06) on cask at Brouwers Bigwood fest ’07.

Comes from the hand-pump caramel red with an exceptionally long-lived head but modest lacing. Nice, nice, nice! What a well-balanced barley wine. Good fruity nose, scotch and earth, hops present with assurance but not overpowering. The flavor too has a strong but not-too-strong hop presence, leading us into the territory of hoppier barleywines but never overdoing it, not sweet in the least - in fact, surprisingly dry - but complex fruits and again that earthy, peaty sense of scotch whiskey atop mild caramel tones. Modest mouthfeel, not thin but not over-the-top creamy.

I drank this one side-by-side with Fred from the Wood, and though Fred was the better beer, this one didn’t fall back into the shadows at all. Rather, it held its own for interest! I’m very impressed with that, and I’m glad to have a few bottles in the cellar; give it a few years and wow.

2006 on tap at BPP. Sweet maple syrup aroma. More hops than expected towards the finish. Glad they brought this one back!

1996 vintage. thick head with pungeant roated malt aroma. deep caramel malt flavor, small trace of bitters tingles the nose

2006 bottle given to me by Charles Finkel during a visit to Pike Brewery this past summer. This poured out a hazy amber, on the lighter end of the barley wine spectrum, with a small, but lasting white head. Very hop dominated aroma with citrus leading the pack, and some lighter honey notes in the background. Medium/full body, lightly carbonated, resinous, and somewhat chewy. As in the aroma, the flavor is heavily weighted toward the hop side with grapefruit bitterness barely giving the lighter malty backbone a chance, and leading into a long bitter finish. Very enjoyable.

Vintage 2007. 22oz bottle courtesy of Travisd13. Pours a rather brilliant reddish/amber color with very little off-white head, no lace. Smells slightly of spicey malts but mostly of fruity hops, not overpowering but nice. Taste is very hoppy but not the spicey kind of sweet hops you get with most BW’s. This is a mellow red fruity hoppiness with the spicey malts kicking in on the finish. Medium body, very smooth. Mellow but sufficient carbonation.

1998 Bottle - Thanks wildaho! - Pours a thick brown with very little head...aroma is sweet, sweet malt, dark fruits, light charred wood...flavour is roasty malt, grape must, honey, and a bit grainy/granular on the end, like it’s on its last legs...had an enjoyable vinous quality, good to experience...

pour is cloudy orange-amber, little to no head, no lacing. smell is sweet, malty, fruit, touch of vanilla, some citrus. taste is some fruit, some citrus, touch of caramel, leaves the mouth on the dry side. overall not as strong as the typical barley wine, good and a little hoppy.