Anchor Old Foghorn Ale

Brewed by Anchor Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
San Francisco, California USA

Serve in Snifter

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Reddish brown. The first barley wine I came across. Citrusy aroma, very malty, chewy and fruity. Bitter finish. I liked it then and I love it still.

Smooth, hoppy, great malts - a little sticky/resiny but well-balanced, luscious brew.

UPDATED: FEB 22, 2003 Upon my first taste of this beer I was put off by the sweetness. Upon retaste I have grown to like this beer alot. The color and aroma are a pleasant foreshadowing of the rich but complex taste to come. I would like to tast the cousin of this brew with just a touch more hops thrown in to satisfy my desire for ibu's.

UPDATED: FEB 4, 2006 Noticably alcoholic, slightly sweet, complex aroma. Rather slight head, but there is some effervescence, interestingly. Well-filtered, clear medium red-orange hue. Mostly malty palate with a bit of malt sweetness (and a hint of apricot?) and a dry, hoppy, warming finish. Very interesting flavor development and balance. A true example of an American Barleywine.

Deep orange color with nice tight head that disipated quickly. The aroma clearly belongs to a barley wine with a noticable dose of alcohol. Taste is very complex with sweet, sherry flavors that warm you all the way down. There is a nice, buttery finish to this well balanced barley wine. The one I’m drinking has been stored for a few years and it has smoothed nicely. A good beer to age.

This is smooth. Beautifully balanced. You can’t even tell that it has 10% ABV. As others have noted, it has a dark orange color.

This stuff is great. I am fortunate enough to have access to it on tap. Just a great barleywine. Sure its on the winey side, but hey, that’s the style. Nice smooth malt flavors which are blanaced well with hops (I do not like overly hopped beers unless its an IPA or something similar). Alchohol flavors are very smooth. Just a great beer on the expensive side - oh well.

Dark orange amber color with a decent head for a barley wine. Soft oily, apricot/citrus character in both the aroma and flavor. Flowery cascade dryness. Alcohol not as well hidden and is more burning than warming.

UPDATED: MAR 30, 2012
2012-01-24, bottle from Brewberry, Paris, bb June 2013, 7-5-7-4-15=38
It pours a clear dark red-mahogany color, with a majestic beige head, creamy, reducing rapidly to a thin layer. The aroma reveals the malt and pungent hop of American Barley Wines. The mouthfeel is very smooth, but the body is too lean for the style; good malt and caramel flavor, some fudge and toffee, with respectable bitterness; moderate sweetness. Fresh, which is unexpected in a Barley Wine, but pleasant.
Good, but very immature.

2011-09-30, bottle, bb May 2002, purchased Jan 2002, possibly 10 years old, 8-4-8-4-17=41
The bottle seems to hold little carbonation, it pours a brown color and some deposit; the head is very small, almost absent. The malt and caramel aroma is aged, deep, permeates the room, with notes of nuts and oxidization, fruits and feet; interesting. Good malt flavor, some caramel, correct sweetness; the bitterness is really faded after these years, just the bare minimum; mellow and nutty, with some more roasted nuttiness later; there are traces of oxidization. Good, but it won’t get better with more aging.

2011-09-30, draught at Mikkeller Bar, Copenhagen, 7-5-7-3-14=36
Cloudy dark amber color with red hue; creamy head. Aroma of caramel and malt, light oxidization, some alcohol. The carbonation is too high, compromising the mouthfeel; malt flavor, with medium sweetness, and a candy-like fruity touch; ordinary bitterness. Quite boring if compared to expectations.

2003-05-15, bottle, 9-5-8-5-17=44
Ruby amber color. Deep aroma, malt; a light fruitiness. Very complex, wonderful. Taste more on the caramel and malty side, with just the necessary bitterness.

2002-06-03, bottle, 9-5-8-4-18=44
Beautiful deep amber color. Wonderful malt aroma, very rich, sweet. Classic style Barley Wine. Rich flavor, malty, caramel, winy, a bit alcoholic, balanced by a correct bitterness. Very good palate, sweet and bitter, enough aromatic.

Excellent barleywine, one of the best, if not the best, english style BW. Low carbination, very little head, deep amber hue, sweet malty flavor balanced, which is wierd, with the hop bitterness, not as aggressive as I would like, but perfectly balanced, alcohol warms without adding much flavor. I would if rated this higher, but I’m ahop head this falls short in extreme bitterness and ABV, compared to Old crustty and bigfoot, one of the best beers outthere, everyone should enjoy this one!