Schooners Old Diablo

Brewed by Schooners Grille & Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Antioch, California USA

Draft. Rich mahogony beer with a light tan head. Rich malty, dark fruit aroma. Rich caramel, malt, sherry flavor with figs and plums. Slight burnt sugar. medium body. Lingering complex malt, sherry, nice dark fruit. Alcohol slightly present.

On tap, pours a deep mahogany with no head and very little nose. Flavor is strangely bourbon strong. Very mellow and easy drinking. Clean finish. RE-RATE I don’t even remember where I originally had this, but it was much more complex and interesting than I rated. Great BW that turns into Old Woody after some time in a barrel.

Tap: Dark brown with red tints. It is thick like syrup and has sweet flavors mixed with a must basement quality. The aroma is extremely mellow with maybe hints of caramel and the hop presence has almost faded. The flavor is rich, grassy and sweet hops with a little bourbon/coconut in the aftertaste. An enjoyable drink. I am curious how old it is because it drinks like it has been aged for some time. The "in your face" over-hopped quality is not there. Pretty nice.

This 2005 vintage hand bottled 12oz-er is courtesy of the Schooner’s brewer Craig, thanks buddy! Pours clear clean copper with gold edges and nice tan head. The aroma is big with chewy sticky caramelized malts mixed with well aged pine hop bitterness that has rolled over into a nice semi sweet smelling pine hop flavor. The taste begins with a soft pine hop flavor that grows malty with slices of dark fruit like figs and raisins. Then midway pale malts with caramel candy surface along with a bit of alcohol warming. YUM. Toward the finish I get a pine hop leaf vegetable type sensation from what I would guess to be prolonged dry hopping. If so it has been blunted with age. There is also a orange hard candy note that rides along into the after taste along with thick chewy malts and a lingering soft pine hop flavor.

Bottle (2005) ... O-Town Throwdown Part Tres... Clear copper ale with a small, creamy, white head. Decent retention. Caramel, pine and pink grapefruit aroma. Rich, malty flavor. Alcoholic and heavily sweet, then medium bitter. Full-bodied with moderate carbonation. Lengthy, caramelly sweet and then bitter finish. Thanks to Ibrew2or3 for providing the bottle!

2005. Deep rust, amber and orange pour sparkles under soft light. Oily. A congregation of edge bubbles impart a faint white lace. Marzipan, caramel and pine in the nose. Alcohol is moderate and it seems like there was no effort to hide its power, but it still seems great. Minor vanilla and spice. A simple, excellent aroma. The flavor is highly malty with heavy toast and lesser roasted grains. Complex caramel leads into fresh black vanilla. The finish is soft and sweet, light bitterness lingering. Mouthfeel is medium-full bodied, lightly carbonated, smooth. This is one of the better barleywines I’ve tried this year. Nothing makes this score exceptionally high, but there is absolutely nothing to complain about either.

2005 vintage, courtesy Ibrew2or3. Copper-orange in color, thin white remnants of head floating around. A lot of alcohol on the nose, along with some nice piney hops. Taste was not as alcoholic as the aroma would indicate. Sweet and dark spices on the taste followed by a long hop finish. The hops come out nicely throught the alcohol and this must have been a monster when fresh.

2005 vintage. Courtesy IBrew2or3. Pours a fairly clear amber, with an off white head. Pretty bready, yeasty, malty aroma, with some hops too. Big and bold. The flavor is fairly complex, huge malt presence with the bitter hops coming in toward the end. Pretty nicely done. Good complexity, decent balance. Pretty tasty.