Third Coast Old Ale

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

This was a good beer! Shared by robert at stateline. Nice amber color. Good aroma of sweet fruits. Classic barleywine taste, thick, sweet and sugary and fruits. Thanks again robert for sharing!

Pours a lovely dark amber with thick head. Aroma is sweet: apples, brandy, candy sugar. Taste is sweet as well:fruits, brown sugar, maple syrup. Nice syrupy mouthfeel, and the alcohol is very well-hidden. A great barley wine indeed.

Pours muddy, dark amber, with a tan, somewhat dense head of medium duration. A few streaks of lacework remained as well as a film of bubbles on the surface. Quite a bit of particulates floating about and looking very murky. Aromatics are malt-laden, with caramel undertones and tinged brown sugar. A faint citrus profile along with raisin pulp adds some complexity. The mouthfeel is sticky, slick, and somewhat grainy. Pallet is pretty staightfoward, with carmelized malt and sugars. Barely a hint of any vineousity leans in the "old ale" direction, with the profile being more along the lines of an american strong ale. Bitterness is slightly heavy-handed, and helps combat the residuals nicely. Finishes with a husky coarseness, scortched sugars, and a lingering warmth.

Pours dark amber color with some floaties in there. Hardly any head. Sweet up front, molasses with maybe some brandy in there, with a bit of a bitter finish. Decent but I don’t know if I’d get it again.

Bottle, courtesy Ughsmash. Pours a murky brown, with hazy yellow highlights. Thin fizzy white head, with decent wet lacing. Tons of caramel and molasses in the nose. Rich. Brown sugar and floral hop notes, too. Big caramel up front on the tongue. Candy corn notes intrigues me. Sweet overall. Overall, not that crazy; more focus on yumminess with less attention paid towards complexity. So velvety smooth and balanced, the epitome of a rich, sipping barley wine. It probably won’t be the best barley wine you drink, but it’ll be one of the easiest to enjoy.

Old Ale on a monday night? Why the hell not. A- Pours a nice reddish orange color, fairly clear with a very small head that goes away as quickly as it came. S- Ahhh heres the old ale smell I love. I still feel tricked by adam. Oh well. This one is big and caramely with small alcohol notes. T- Starts off deep caramel as in the nose and moves to a huge alcohol flavor that is so prevalent it’s hard to detect much else under it. Definitely a small hop bite at the end. Even though this one is a little hot I still like it. M- Thick, low on the carbonation, excellent for the style. D- I love old ales more and more the more I try, this one is no exception. Not the best i’ve had but it’s definitely worth a try if you like old ales.

12 oz bottle I picked up in Pittsburgh. Poured brownish copper in color with a very small beige head. Aroma of dark fruits and a touch of alcohol. Taste is has a bit of dark fruits, brown sugar, caramel with a little alcohol warming in the finish. I was expecting better based on ratings, but it was still very solid.

12 oz bottle courtesy of IPADAN (BA site). Pours a dark copper color with minimal off-white head which dissipated immediately. Smells of vinous fruit mainly and some alcohol. Taste is complex with vinous fruit - raisins - and also some hops. Mouthfeel is creamy with some hop bitterness and hint of alcohol, but not near the alcohol feel of some other barleywines I’ve had recently.b Very nice.