Speakeasy Old Godfather Barleywine

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

Vintage 2006
Hazy ruby-amber color; creamy head. Creamy aroma, malty, with some vanilla and cookies. Very thick mouthfeel, a bit oily too; huge malt and caramel aroma, sweet; the alcohol warmth is clearly perceived; the final is thinner than expected, but with a good mix of caramel and hop; strong bitterness. Excellent.

2006 vintage. Pours a clear coppery amber with a red tint and a creamy medium sized beige head. Aroma of caramel malts and slight pine. Taste of caramel malts, faint pine and candied sugar. A tasty barleywine.

Pizza Port Strong Ale Fest ’07. Probably one of those brews I remembered the least after drinking +8% ales for nearly 3 hours straight. Pretty flat pour based on memory, malty, but HOT aroma of brandy alcohol and some hops. Flavor held some fruity green apple notes, cinnamon and rum. Burning alcoholic finish, this one put me over the top as one of my last brews I tried before stumbling out of the festival. Interesting but not worth another try.

Bottle: Pours an amber color with a 1 finger off-white dissipating head. Aroma is malty sweet with green and seedy fruit aroma. Flavor is malty and fruity with some alcohol burn and a pretty decent bitter finish but without any hoppy flavors. Far too much of the flavor is alcohol. And the body is a bit light especially for the style. Pretty bad barleywine wise.

Bottle. A amber beer with a beige head. The aroma is of caramel malt and heavy on the hops, just my thing. The taste is sweet caramel malt, bread, alcohol and lots of hops, also just my thin. Medium to full body with a sweet hoppy, alcohol burn finish. Jusy my kind of beer!

Bottled. A hazy amber beer with a lazing beige head. The aroma is powerful with very strong notes of hops, malt, and alcohol - a real American BW. The flavor is sweet with strong notes of malt and alcohol, that burns in the throat.

(Bottle 35,5 cl) Courtesy of fiulijn. Clear, amber golden with a rough, off-white head. Fat nose of aroma hops and caramel. Very full-bodied with plenty of caramel malt. Some almost medicinal notes. Extremely intense with a very solid hop bite in the finish and also some very warming alcohol. Yummy. 171107

12 Oz Bottle (2006) via tever. Heavy carameled malt and Chinook nose. Pink pepper and chewy brownie corners. Distinct west coast barleywine notes. Bourbon drizzled pineapple and hop dashes. Pours a haze rufescent fury, with a rim of just off-white edge. Wow, this is hoppy and hot. But, not particularly enjoyable. Heavy co-humulone husk and a snappy bite of scotch. The hoppiness tends a little celery-like and holds off on floral or citrus grandeur. Dry, but hot. Nostril scorching. Not a particularly vibrant example. Fresh tasting, at a year old. Hops aren’t old tasting, but stemmy and tending towards very savory character. Malt can’t keep up, the caramels get drowned in a sorrow of sloppy sugar. Toothy. Some lemon liqueur kicks up through heavily attenuated hop fusels in the background. One-dimensional. Thanks Tom! I always enjoy trying ANY barleywine.