Speakeasy Old Godfather Barleywine

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

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 fl oz bottle. Pours deep amber to hazzlenut brown and golden with a lacing off-white head. Aroma is solid barley and woody aroma, mild hoppy pineneedle note, mild fruity note too. Flavour starts with a solid hoppy wooden flavour with an underlying liqourice note. Dense and barley flavoured. Bitter and mild spiced. Lingering hoppy and dry wooden finish with a mild liqourice note. Nice.

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.

Name: Old Godfather
Date: 10/07/2006
Mode: Bottle
Source: Trade
Vintage: 2006

clear dark ruby red, whispy off white head that can be easily roused, rich sweet malt aroma with a bit of an alcoholic burn and some light floral hops, creamy body, rich carmel malt flavor, nice fruity character that starts off light and grows, touch of alcohol that disapates,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.7/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: **4

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.

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.

(12oz bottle, vintage 2006) Small beige head atop clear copper body. Aroma is moderately sweet, caramel, passion fruit, orange, some grapefruit/pine. Taste is moderately sweet, caramel, mango, grapefruit/orange, some pine. Alcohol shows up in the finish, but not overly strong. Watery medium body -- surprisingly drinkable, and light for style and the ABV. Not sure what I think about this -- when I drink a barleywine, I want a big beer, and while the ABV and even the flavor match the style, the body is way outside what I’d expect. And while the body isn’t bad in itself, it’s not what I’m looking for in a BW.