Schooners Old Diablo

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

GABF ’07. Pours tawny with an average, frothy, light brown head, lasting lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (cookie, caramel, nutty), average hops (perfume, grass), average yeast (sweat, earth) with notes of banana butter. Full bodied, alcoholic texture, lively carbonation, and a bitter finish. Average duration, light sweetness, heavy acidity and bitterness.

Dark copper pour, tall off white head w/ thick lace. Sweet raisen, grahm cracker, caramel, aroma, some dark fruits, fugel hop. But w/ no fugel in it... definatelly european. Well coated full palate. Thick sweet flavor, lots of caramels, english hops, light fruits, touch of grahm crackers, hints of alcohol, very mellow and quite nice.

Date: February 26, 2007
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting
Vintage: 2002
Appearance: cloudy dark amber, wispy beige head
Aroma: rich caramel aroma with hot fusel alcohols to burn your nose
Body: sticky sweet body
Flavor: big sweet caramel malt flavor, touch of alcohol, earthy bitterness

Aroma: 5/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.2/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+/4

Date: July 10, 2009
Mode: Draft
Source: RBSG 2009 Dinner
Vintage: 2007
Appearance: hazy dark red, fine beige head, drippy lace
Aroma: big sweet dark caramel and vanilla aroma, candy sweetness, rich ripe dark fruits, light oak
Flavor: sweet caramel flavor, lots of vanilla sweetness combines well with the caramel. touch of dark fruits, light chocolate

Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 17/20
Rating: 4.1/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: ***+/4

2002 bottle sampled on 2/26/07: Pours a transparent bronze copper with a lightly-lacing coating of off-white head. Toasty sweet caramel toffee aroma has some complex light fruity esters. Body starts full, viscous and caramely sweet with decent bittersweet, light fruity balance toward a warming finish. An enjoyable barleywine that appears to have aged quite well.

2002 Vintage:Poured a hazy orange amber color with a minimal off-white head. The aroma was of dried aged fruits. Light earthiness at the end. Malty sweet flavor with notes of dried fruits and aged malt. Very tasty and warming. Light bitterness on the finish. Semi-dry.

tap at barclays. This is a comfort beer if there is such a thing. very nice aromas of smoky malts and caramel. Flavors are smoky, woody, a bit of toffee and malts offset by some floral hops. But the soothing, buttery smokiness is what sets it apart. Outstanding.

Valley Brew tasting Feb 2007 - 2002 vintage - Aroma and flavor are sweet, smokey, caramel malt and some green veggies that gives it a unique profile. Palate is sticky and sweet. Didn’t really notice the alcohol, but it was starting to get late at this point.

NorCal tasting Jan 07 - A barleywine that can be enjoyed by all. That should be the tagline for this beer. While some barleywines can scare off the masses, this should attract ’em. A sweet nose with notes of brown sugar, sweet coffee and light chocolate. Appearance is an intense dark brown, minimal head. Mouthfeel was very sublime, almost soft to a degree. Flavors were a great combination of sweet malts, light fruits and roasted nuts. The alcohol is hidden very, very well in this beer.