Anchor Old Foghorn Ale

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

Serve in Snifter

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UPDATED: JUL 14, 2006 Bottling code of 4GQ indicated that this bottle came out on August 17, 2004, and was 2½ months fresh when it completed its maiden voyage to the shelves of Sherlock’s Beer and Wine in Kennesaw, Georgia. Priced pretty dearly at about $12 a six pack of the crazy little 7 oz. bottles, I decided to live a little and picked it up.

Looked great in the goblet with a lovely deep orange color, low carbonation releasing a thin collar of bubbles at the top. I guess the glass was half full in this department, rather than half empty. The aroma was warm with grassy and peppery hops literally jumping out of the glass. There was also a raisin like vinousness wafting around as I inhaled.

The taste however was much less intense than I was hoping for. I could detect caramel, grapes, raisins, black pepper, and a hint of smoke, however I had to work the beer around my tongue to detect these flavors, and they were fleeting at best. In mid palette, the beer just tasted like bubbly malt and hop water, and the aftertaste was a bit rubber like.

Mouthfeel was soft and silky, but a bit too thin for the style. I am more used to the tongue numbing, mind altering approach used by Old Crustacean and Bigfoot. Compared to those this beer is much more approachable, but ultimately a bit more hollow. May be additional age will be kinder to this grand old brew.

Update:

A stop by the liquor store on my way home indicated a close out price on a batch of sixpacks at $7.99. Thinking this was a good deal on a batch of 7 oz. nips, I picked up a sixer. As the bottle stangely filled up the 16 oz wine glass, I looked at the label. 12 oz. of Barlewine in each bottle, woo hoo. At that price, I think I am going to get a few more sixers. Bottling date of February 8, 2005, purchased on June 1, 2005.

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.