Thomas Hooker Old Marley Barleywine

Brewed by Thomas Hooker Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Bloomfield, Connecticut USA

Wasn’t expecting much from this beer, but man, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Apart from the cool bottle, upon pouring this gem you instantly get the feeling you are in for something special. The appearance of this brew is a deep cloudy walnut with a failry decent head that quickly fizzled away. The aroma is top notch. Sweet malts with hints of oak, vanilla, tobacco, and some earthy hopiness to it. Upon sipping this beer, your mouth is greeted with generous amounts of sweet sticky, roasty malts. The beer exhibits a very earthy tone to it. The oak aging really shines through but does not over power. Earthy hop bitterness and alcohol are apparent in the finish. I did notice some sort of astringency as well that detracted a slight bit from the taste......sort of like a raw hop bitterness. A very good brew though. Thanks to jjpm for this one!

Sample at Indy tasting Dick’s 96th - Aroma is alcohol, carmel malt, and hops. Pours dark brown with no head or lacing. Flavor is snappy with an alcohol and hop bite. Carmel and vanilla round it out. Palate is sticky and tart. Nice if you like your barleywines to bite back.

Wow. Pours a dark brown with little to no head. Some lacing on the glass. Smells of toast with some definate piney hops. The taste is amazing. It fills the palate with a deluge of flavors. First is a roasted malt; almost a hint of a stout. Then the first wave of woody hops. A second round of mild maltyness with some citrus tones is followed by a lingering finish that is sweetly bitter. Great barleywine.

2005 bottle...dark brown, opaque body with small, off-white head...aroma is of caramel and toffee, with a citrus hop backbone...flavor is strong in toffee, caramel, vanilla, oak, and a touch of piney hops...perfect mouthfeel

Bottle, from Jimbowood. Super dark, thick pour with absolutely no head. Very malty, sweet, oaky taste. Definitely in the traditional style of a barley wine. I must admit, this style does not appeal to me. I have become accustomed to much more hoppier versions of barley wines that are typical here on the west coast. While this is complex and interesting, it’s simply not my favorite type of beer. However, I have tried to rate this beer based on the style.

Thanks to Todd for this one! Vintage 2004. Poured a caramel brown color with a nice initial tan head that thinned and disappeared before long. Lacing was weak. The aroma was of caramel, bourbon, and vanilla. Flavor of caramel malts, whiskey, oak/wood, and sweet vanilla. Assertive bitter hop finish, a nice counter-balance to a fairly malty beer. With increasing temperature the smokey notes did come out with a little molasses. Mouthfeel was full, smooth, pleasant, no stickiness, nice carbonation. Complex, a nice treat.

Hazy dark brown. Insignificant head. Rich caramel/toffee malt, resinous hops, dark fruits, dark bread, herbs, yeast, and subtle oak aged notes - wood, vanilla, very light smoke, and a splash of alcohol. Complex brew. Full, smooth palate. Excellent barleywine.

Murky brown with a tan head. Sweetly malty nose, brown sugar, toffee. Resiny pine aromas. Flavor is more of the same, oaky notes are there but muted. Alcohol pronounced in the finish, but not detracting. Solid.