Speakeasy Old Godfather Barleywine

Brewed by Speakeasy Ales and Lagers
Style: Barley Wine
San Francisco, California USA

Pours a beautiful clear ruby-red with a short-lived head and some lacing. Fantastic aroma - sweet caramel and nice, crisp, fresh hops. Wonderfully malty, fruity taste - very fresh hops, very present alcohol. Light diacetyl. Resinous, astringent hop character in the finish. Body can be creamy and pleasant when a head is worked up, decent carbonation. What a real treat - I look forward to ageing this and tasting again in a year!

12 oz bottle. Clear honey brown with a brief tan froth. Nose is peppery caramel; spicy and herbal. Medium light with a mild tang. Taste starts like vodka and grapefruit. Caramel comes in but yields to pine needles and more grapefruit.

Pours a nice deeper ruby/amber with orange notes and a medium creamy/bubbly off white head that left lots of sticky lacing. Aroma of dark fruits, pine, lots of citrus notes, some floral notes, nice and hoppy, caramel and some vanilla notes. Flavor was also nice and hoppy, some hop bitterness but the amount of malt balances this beer nicely. Hop flavor, pine, citrus, dark fruits, some vanilla that lingers, caramel and some malt sweetness.

12oz. Bottle: Aroma of alcohol, hops, pine, resin, citrus and caramel. Poured dark amber in color with a large, creamy, rocky, tan head that lasted throughout. Clear. Full of medium-sized particles. Small to medium lacing. Medium to heavily bitter flavor. Tastes of hops, resin, pine, caramel, citrus, and alcohol. Medium body. Sticky texture. Average to lively carbonation. Dry, bitter, resinous finish. I really like this one. Very hoppy.

bottle. Pours an off-burnt orange color. Aroma is vineous, floral. Flavor is a lot of the same features, a good malt body, with a decent hop accent. Very much a Speakeasy brew, not bad.

On tap at Hamiltons. Golden amber with a creamy white head. Smooth bright palate. caramel aroma and a tangy, citrus, and caramel taste.

First off there was a very very strange taste/aroma to this beer that I can still not magage to pinpoint. It wasnt good or bad, just different. Hoppy and caramely. Chewy and....still that taste lingers in my head.

Lighter in color and body than expected in a barley wine. Aroma is sweet and hoppy. Floral, citrus, lemon and caramel. Flavor is similar with the citrus very noticeable. While I enjoy the hop/caramel malt combination this one strikes me as more of an Imperial IPA than a barley wine. Enjoyable anyhow.