Anchor Old Foghorn Ale

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

Serve in Snifter

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UPDATED: MAR 24, 2006 Bottles and tap from 2002 onwards. It is elegant in its simplicity. Round, floral/malty taste, with not too much hops. The aftertaste is amazing as well as the big, medium-full body. i would drink this beer on tap over most others. Plenty of warm malt, some chocolate, dark plums, plenty of raisins and some light vanilla. Dry cherries. Rerate. After trying harveys elizabethan and a few other barleys and trying this over and over, I still love it, but it just isnt that complex. . .at least not yet. Im going to cellar a few bottles for a long time and see what happens then.
Havent had this in a while, picked up a couple 2004 bottles to try. Don’t get too much different from what I’ve noted of old, but the feeling I get is that this is an overall lighter beer than I thought, body-wise, or maybe just an off-year. Seems to go down very easily, with somewhat of a short finish. Still a spectacular flavor profile, and I’m not asking for it to be a monster, but just needs a little more oomph and chewiness perhaps. Dropping the rating a few points overall.
’05-’06 draught Very underwhelming nose here is just a ubiquitous c-hop with deep, caramel and munich-like maltiness. Fairly strong, but unwaveringly monotonous. The flavor is again strong, forceful even, but it’s just thick, near-syrupy caramel/caramunich malts with bitter hops and an almost dry, salty toffee and peanut brittle sort of flavor. No elegance and barely, if at all, balanced. Dropping it a number of points. Appearance was even lacking, head was only moderately retained at best, no lacing. As Ernest says, who enjoys acid/astringency?

355 ml bottle bought @ Bierzwerg.de. Pours dark reddish wooden brown with a rather small offwhite head that doesn’t leave much trace while dissipating. Smell is sweet with caramel, plums, ripe dark grapes, wood, alcohol, honey, vanilla extract, fudge and very subtle hints of rubber. Taste is sweet, bitter and tiny sour with sweet dark bread, grass, orange peal, caramel, alcohol, lemon zest, plums, toffee, pineapple, green grapes, wood and hints of minerals, vanilla, red wine and resin. Mouthfeel is sticky sweet, tiny tart, tiny boozy and medium to full bodied. Finish is slightly sweet and bitter with burnt caramel, orange peal, wood, pineapple and lemon zest.

Bottle. Clear red/brown colour with a nice white head. Aroma and flavour of caramel, alcohol, dried fruit, malt and hoppy notes.

It isn’t flashy, but it’s a nice and traditional barley wine. It has some tame fruitiness, amber velvet mouthfeel, slight sourness, and just enough alcohol to keep you sort of guarded. It’s a sippin’ beverage and I like it.

Strong, fruity aroma is rather sweet but not cloying, and has an overtone of molasses plus a firm hint of honey. It pours a beautiful clear mahogany-copper with a thick, fluffy, pale copper-tan head that leaves a fair amount of lacing. Sweet, fruity flavor has tones of honey and caramel, as well as a noticeable, if not fierce, alcohol bite that nicely offsets the sweetness. Texture has good body and an OK amount of fizz. Sound the foghorn and pour this one down the hatch!

Donkeramber , veel kraag. Complex aroma , smaakt zoetig en tamelijk vol, Veel mout, bitterzoet, fruitig. Lekker spul, waar kan ik de kratten kopen?

Bottle. Aroma of plums, prunes, wood and alcohol. Slightly unclear brown colour with light brown head. Sweet and spicy flavour with prunes, alcohol and oakwood. Nive bitter finish from the hops.

Bottle from Bierzwerg. Dark brown colour with big head. Aroma is malty, dark fruits, hoppy. Flavour is caramel, hoppy citrus finish.

12oz bottle poured into shaker glass Aroma: Sweet and malty. Caramel, vanilla, bread, & alcohol. Appearance: fairly clear. coppery color with little to no head Taste: High sweet and mild bitter Palate: medium body and thin texture. lively carbonation. short finish that was sweet and just barely bitter Overall: very good flavor but seemed a little thin. Lower end of the spectrum for alcohol on a barley wine but I enjoyed it. Did not have much heat to it. Flavors definitely seemed to come out once it warmed up a bit. Had this at a pizza place but would pick up another bottle to try it at home.

Pours an amber color with a small white head. Aroma of dark fruit. Taste is of caramel, apple, sweet fruits and hops. Nice alcohol burn towards the end. Full mouthfeel.

Poured a reddish amber, with a fluffy tan head. No apparent lacing. Smell is figs, prune, caramel, vanilla; just very sweet. Taste is much the same, well-balanced, sweet upfront with tastes of raisins, figs, caramel, and alcohol. It has a creamy mouthfeel and ends medium bitter. Pretty damn good.