Great Divide Old Ruffian

Brewed by Great Divide Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Denver, Colorado USA

Thanks to hudsonphotog for sharing this bottle. I have tried it many times but this is the first time I have reviewed it. Bottled 1/8/09 and drank 2/27/10. Pours a hazy amber color with a large off-white head. The aroma is complex, with brown sugar, caramel and dark fruit. The flavor is brown sugar, hop bitterness, caramel, dark fruit and molasses. Medium, very smooth mouthfeel and medium carbonation.

22 oz bottle bottled on 12/22/09 tasted blind on 3/11/10. Pours beautiful ruby with bubbly tan head and good lacing. Aroma of pine, caramel and licorice. Nice rich sweet flavor with a balanced bitterness. Medium body, good carbonation, a little oily, but a bit boozy. Would love to have this with a little age.

Great Divide Brewing Company--Old Ruffian Barley Wine Style Ale--2006 22 oz. Bottle. 10.20% ABV--90 IBU’s. (4.25 / 5.0) 2 @ $5.99 Each. Rich lacy orangeish head. Cloudy rich dark amber color. Thick pour. Tight sediment. Smoky caramel fruit subtle hop front. Complex rich creamy mellow caramel fruit earthy smoky rustic toffee body. Hot spicy rich hop EtOH malty crusty end. Hoppy.Aged Well. Sampled 10/4/2008.

2008 22oz bottle opened in 2010. Pours a light transparent reddish brown with a thin head. Not very much in the way of aroma, just alcohol and a little sweetness. Tastes quite bitter and malty, with alcohol and some sweetness. OK, but it was sort of one dimensional- the bitterness overwhelms everything else.

Tap @ Barleywine & Big Beer Fest... [2007 vintage] Poured clear, amber/orange with a thin, white head. Still a big of hops even after a fews years of aging. Light alcohol flavors with malted grains, oats, fruits, and a little kick of sweetness in the finish. The yeast gave off almost a tea-like body.

Had the ’07 of this on tap today at the Lucky Lab Big Beer and Barley Wine Tastival in Portland, OR. Colour... translucent amber with no head. Nose... sugared hops! Palate... plenty of CO2, very hoppy with some more hops and a lingering bit of hops with a smidge of malt. Rather one dimensional; but nice for hop heads!

A hint of the hops on the nose shared with a candy sweetness. I can taste nice bittering for early to mid palate. Mid I get some chocolate or burnt malt, but overwhelmingly I am reminded of a tootsieroll candy (in a good way) most likely due to the caramel flavors. Finishes bitter enough to want another sip but not overpoweringly. Overall, very well balanced and drinkable given its ABV.

It’d been some time since I had this when I had the chance to sample it at Pre-Sex - thanks, sharer I can’t remember! Moderately hazy pour, a deep dark orange with a fluffy head. It’s aggressively hopped in the nose, much like many of the finer American barleywines. But also present are malty toffee, a hint of grapefruit, and some boozy heat. Body is thick, almost roiling from the carbonation, and the taste suggests that this one is pretty fresh. I prefer beers like this with at least a year on them (I go elsewhere for a hop fix) but it’s hard to deny that there’s something enjoyable about the face-wreckage.