Speakeasy Old Godfather Barleywine

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

A real rich malty caramely aroma with a little citrus grapefruit aroma to this. Flavor was alittle hot but had a slight bitterness and a descent malt profile to this one. Not too bad at all.

Brew pours a deep golden amber w/ a shallow, spattered froth. Residual lacing is minimal. Aroma of malted taffy. Full nectar w/ ample residual effers. The texture is like cotton. Flavors of sweet malts upfront w/ a mild hop profile. Theres a defined potato chip character going on here. Strange. Cherries, potato chips, leather, molases. The finish is long and sweet w/ a lingering asprin burn yet only mildly.

2k6 bottle: A nice floral hop aroma, butterscotch, with a roasted maltiness, a light plum nose, and some alcohol lingering in the background. Appearance is a translucent maroon color with a thin almost non-existent soapy white head. Taste is a nice hop texture, way to much alcohol burn on the back end, a roasted nut note, caramel, pine cones, and almost a pine-sol taste to it. I might of opened this too early or something got messed up with it, but this is not that stellar of a barley wine. I’ve had much better.

Clear orange/copper with a small head. Aroma of alcohol, bandages and toffee. After it warms a little; toffee still comes on strong, but the medicinal taste was a bit down. No hops present, but plenty of alcohol. Not Speakeasy’s best.

Very sweet malty aroma. Pretty, bubbly dark amber (lighter than most other barleys I tasted). Almost no head though, which is odd and detracts abit. Very very sweet, to me, cloying. Very little hops to balance it out. Average palate. I won’t be buying this again.

2006 bottle. Lovely translucent cherry caramel with a grey glacial sheaf on top. Aroma speaks of unadulterated pleasure. Figs piping with amaretto liquor, brandy flambé wit black cherries and plums, pistachios succumbing to Russian vodka and almond butter to seal the deal. Flavorful first sip catches amaretto and maple gloss amidst a fierce plum dimension. Dark fruited cherries come alive in the mouth and cause a glow to the esophagus tubing. Pistachios encapsulated by brandy butter sauce and transitory crème brulee. Rose petal honey floral sweetness circumvents the black cherry vat marriage to caramel liquor. Full bodied and ripe, with a crisp, sweet, citric and aged hop bitterness that wins the dark fruit vintage race and the west coast hop allegiance award. Finish dries out with some harsher Chinook-esque bitterness to seal in the cherry almond wax au caramel. Thanks much for the bottle, tpkenned!

12oz, 2006 vintage. Pours a slightly hazy amber with a half finger yellowish creamy head--fades to a film rather quickly. Aroma has some floral and piney hops, though what’s there isn’t that strong. There is also some vanilla, sugar cookie dough, and light caramel malts. Flavor is plain bitterness up front eventually turning into pine, but either way not great. Alcohol and some sweet malts are there as well. Semidry moderately bitter finish. Moderate creamy carbonation with a medium body. This is not a good beer, and I have a feeling it will give me heartburn.

Thanks to tronraner for sharing this bottle with us at the Tennessee Spring(ish) Tastin. A clean amber pour with decent lacing. An aroma of citrus and light abv. A light malty flavor with hops and abv coming through. A slightly thin palate but overall a pretty good BW.