Speakeasy Old Godfather Barleywine

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

2006 Bottle. Poured a dark amber body with nice size head. Aroma was really odd - lots of caramel, malt, and an odd smell. Flavor was off too - malty, acorn squash, and a lite citrus taste. No hops were detected (Hello, CA BW?). This wasn’t bad as it warmed for awhile but really a disappointement from when I picked it up.

Bottle: Fiery orange, thin frothy light beige head, spotty lacing, no noticeable carbonation.   Soft sweet caramel nose, but mainly strong citrus peel.   Seems to be a little bit of wet sock too.   Very pale malt body on this one, slightly astringent, low hop profile (for a Barley Wine anyway), with a fairly moderate biting citrus peel flavor.   Not big in body at all, and certainly not for a 10.2% brew.   Finishes shows a bit of alcohol, with a rough citrus bitter finish.   Not big enough to age well I believe as the malt body is pretty much non-existant.   I was really looking forward to this one too.   Thanks Bill!

Bright filtered amber appearance. Earthy, citrusy hop nose...I can’t believe this is from California. Somewhat thin...I’m so accustomed to a BW being all cloudy and yeasty that I can’t deal with it otherwise. Same citrusy hop profile but a lack of killer maltiness to make it work. Subpar.

Bottle at Oliver Twist, Stockholm. Clear amber, no head. Clean aroma of caramel, orange-peels, nuts, menthol and alcohol. medium to full flavour of caramel, grapefruit and sweet licorice. Mild grapefruit in the finish along with alcohol.

Bottled at Oliver Twist, Stockholm. Clear dark amber, small head. Rich lychee aroma with some butter coming through. Sweet and very rich with dense mouthfeel. Sweet, buttery caramelly malt provides a foundation for massive hoppiness. Notes of dextrose and perfume and with a a well rounded lightly soapy mouthfeel. I found the bitterness to be surprisingly restrained after all the hop flavour, but that probably has more to do with balance than sheer IBU. A good beer it is, probably my favourite from Speakeasy so far.

Thanks to tronraner for sharing this bottle with us at the Tennessee Spring(ish) Tasting! Poured amber with a white head. Sweet aroma of fruits and hops with a faint alcohol background. The flavor was a nice mix of hop and fruits. Medium body and slightly thin flavor for a real great barley.

Tasted at the Tennessee Spring(ish) Tasting in Knoxville, TN on 3/10/2007. Bottle provided by tronraner... Old Godfather pours a clear amber red color. It has a sugary sweet aroma. Based on the proliferation of hops in the IPA-like flavor, this is definitely an American-style Barleywine. There was some sugar cookie malt, aged fruit, and alcohol present in the earthy flavor as well. Overall it has a moderate hop flavor and a pretty high bitterness level. Some very nice whiskey flavors and warming alcohol became apparent once this beer had a chance to breathe and warm up a bit. The palate was pretty smooth, but I would have liked some additional weight in the body. This was a pretty good barleywine, but I prefer one with a richer, deeper maltiness and slightly less hop flavors and bitterness.

Thanks to Doclock in the mystery swap. 12 oz botlte. Pours a clear filtered medium amber with a thin white head ans spotty lacing. Aroma is hoppy- american - C hop, amarillow and a bit catty, earhty, and citrusy with a prickly pine character and sweet sticky caramel malts- but overall the aroma seems refined and filtered and a bit dusty/dirty. Smooth moderate flavor with lots of sweet malts, hoppy citrus and lemon, with ornage rind bitterness, filtered slick taste, but overall it is very smooth and enjoyable. Pretty good overall. I liked this better than expected. Thanks Jeff!