Thomas Hooker Old Marley Barleywine

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

Sampled from 500 ml bottle, shared by brewfiend, at Cellar’s Wine & Spirits in St Paul, MN. Pours a cloudy dark amber brew with a thick off-white head that slowly dissolves to a fine film and ring. Aroma of sour prunes, brown sugar, some caramel malt and toffee. Taste is medium to full bodied, average carbonation with flavors of caramel malt, toffee, sharp cheddar cheese and some dried brown sugar. Finish is mildly bitter with a metallic alcohol character with a sour soy sauce and caramel malt aftertaste.

Had at Logan’s Oceanside beer tasting with AlohaC, and Hair, and Matt, and Ken, and Bill, and others. 2007 bottle. Cloudy amber color. A little bit of twang for a barleywine. Very nice.

(2006 Bottle) Appearance: Pours a filthy-looking, dark brown body with a small, bubbly off-white head. Truly, a grody sight. Smell: Aroma of charred wood, dark malts, prunes, pine, and brown sugar. Taste: Starts with a subtle brown sugar sweetness and dark maltiness that’s trampled by a brash bourbon flavor along with notes of pine, ash-covered wood, and dash of soy. The flavors just don’t mesh well at all. Plenty of hop bitterness in the sour, fusel alcohol finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-full body. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: I didn’t really dig this back in ’06 and I’m not diggin’ it now. Some breweries come up aces in their bourbon barrel aging, others just make a mess.

500 ml bottle, 2006 Vintage, via jjpm74. Pours a very dark amber, almost a light brown, under a small tight bubbled creamy beige head that retained as a thin covering. Nose is deep toffee and caramel with some light coffee and lots of resiny hops. A touch of alcohol and oxidation. The flavor is highly alcoholic with burnt caramel and toffee, lots of brown sugar. Tons of resiny hops on the finish. Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied , but not sticky or cloying at all, just a little resiny hop stickiness on the finish. Overall, this was OK, but I don’t think there was enough sweetness to balance out all the bitterness.

Squat swing-top from 2006, courtesy of porterhouse - big thanks, Kevin! Rich blue glass; let’s see how this has fared after a year. Darkly malty, slightly roasty, slightly smoky, slightly peaty aroma. Some caramel and wood. Strong alcohol presence (a bit too much) with dark, dry fruit. Brown pour settles in at an opaque pitch in the glass, with a creamy, luscious cream / light brown head. Dark, bitter taste, dark chocolate and smoky roast nearing ash but not quite reaching it. Mellow English hops, and the taste on the whole seems to be somewhat hollow, probably from maturation. Light pine, prunes, and dough. Touch of wood and faint bourbon rounding out the sides. Alcohol is way too strong in the mix. Flavors are a bit muddled. Velvety smooth, soft feel with a warming kick at the end. Body is actually closer to medium than to full. This is definitely more of a spirit than a beer, and not an entirely satisfying one, at that.

500ml bottle via trade a long time ago with someone. Thanks. Shared with Liz. Pours a a weird brownish slop with a thin off white ring hed. The nose is full of brandy and shreerry and other super sweet notes. Tasste is sweet, full of some molasses and sour notes. I lika the sourin in this and I’m surprised its there. Overall a wierd barley wine. Vicscous slippery palate. Overall intriguing.

500ml swing-top bottle. reminded me more of an Amer. Strong Ale than a BW, but that’s OK, I really enjoy Strong Ales. aromas and flavors of dark ripe fruit, oak, vanilla and molasses. rich in taste and full-bodied in the palate. very enjoyable. thanks to Rich for the bottle.

(500 ml bottle (2006) from <A HREF=http://www.ratebeer.com/Place/massachusetts/w target=blank>Julio’s Liquors, cellared for 9 mos. after purchase) Big, sticky, sweet and smokey...Pours murky-looking dark brown-sugary brown. Very little head - what there is mostly retreats to edge. Aroma is big sweet brown sugar and rock candy. Palate is medium-full and sticky. No lacing, more like a syrupy curtain down the sides of the glass. Tastes of big brown sugar and rock candy malt sweetness with a touch of doppelbock-like smokiness. Smooth and full. Kind of hot in the finish. Light-medium bitter finish with maybe a touch of pine. Quite yummy and big.