Dark Horse 3 Guy Off the Scale Old Ale

Brewed by Dark Horse Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Marshall, Michigan USA

Serve in Snifter

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

Wax capped bottle thanks to WeeHeavySD, thanks Jon! Pours with a smallish, creamy off-white head that stays for a while and leaves some lace. Murky red body. Some alcohol legs above the lace. Aroma is classic malty barley wine with notes of plum, fig, brandy, toffee, spicy hops, and marzipan. This would be a great candidate for barrel aging. Taste is sweet with rotten fruits, toffee, a few banana esters, chocolate, dirt, cognac, and berries. Warming, but well hidden for the ABV. Light bubbles and very syrupy. Very good beer.

Acknud, you kick ass! Nice bottle here from a world class trader! Brown/amber pour with a little head. Aromas of raisins, molasses and strong malts. Flavors are sweet and hoppy...surprising at the least. I taste syrups and sugar and the alchohol is hidden beyond belief.

A Mes rate. Bottle at Borefts 10am day after hotel tasting.
Excellent amber colour with a really good beige head. Slightly cheesey but all round an excellent barley wine. More sugary than I would normally like but there is no denying it’s very tasty. Excellent spicy notes, plenty of chewy caramel malt and a good warming feel all the way through. Good stuff.

Pours a murky dark brown with a nice, but short-lived light tan head. Lots of large yeast clumps sink to the bottom of the glass. Rich complex caramel malty aroma with some aged butterscotch and dark fruit complexity. Starts thick, malty, and sweet with some diacetyl and candy licorice flavor with a sticky sweet, warming finish. Could hide its alcohol a little better, but has nice complexity. Thanks to goldtwins for sharing!

12oz bottle, vintage unknown
Dark burgundy colored body, murky, with a slightly dark and dusty tan colored head – fine bubbled. Rich, inviting nose of rip plums and oak wood, some old, slightly oxidized caramel malt, some black cherries and cedar wood, with little bit of honey and orange as well. Rich, smooth and frothy palate, with rich dark plum, French oak, and some spicy dark plum and date yeast notes. Overall a really nice old ale, one of the more flavorful ones I’ve had, though the little amount of oxidation keeps this just below amazing.

This roaming, free raspberry candy spirit, a fat specter with a sceptre of chocolate, looms through the thick hoppy fog...His ghoulish sweet whispers of decadence resound louder and louder, as grapefruity virtuosi of the affable kind lick the inner mind and the upper palate...I need to close my eyes to appreciate this...Chewy alcohol creates profound seismic vibrations in the palate...I love to be haunted by the thought of a great barley wine...Thanks radiomgb!...

Bottle thanks to styles! Pour was a deep, sparkly ruby with a ring and a spattering of off-white head. Huge aroma with dark fruits and raspberries, grassy hoppage and caramel... but the big, mean alcohol lurking in there almost washed the rest of the nose away. First impression on the tastebuds was tart raspberries and bright alcohol. Caramel and dark fruity sweetness follow, along with some herbal/grassy hoppage. The alcohol never lets you forget that it’s there. Finish lasted a while, with dark berries and booze... mild herbal bitterness. Tart and bitter from the fruit and alcohol on the palate, yet there was enough malt presence to balance things out and provide a nice distribution of flavors. Warming and intoxicating going down. Good young... looking forward to seeing if greatness ensues with age!

12 ounce bottle from mibirder. Thanks! This says barleywine on the label so someone correct me if this is not the correct beer. Pours a reddish copper color with a thin head. Decent retention and lacing. Aroma of toffee, chocolate, big spicy hops and subtle dark fruits. Taste is toffee, strawberry, cherry, citrus and other fruits, licorice. Very complex. Full bodied and quite sticky.

Pours brown with a red hue and a thin tan head. Smells of dark fruit, spicy, some resiny hints a touch of pepper. Tastes of dark fruit, sweet malt, nicely balanced out by some underlying bitterness. Enjoyable.

Thanks to Rogueone for sharing a bottle. The beer pours a lustrous reddish orange color with a medium thin and frothy beige head that diminishes quickly. Stringy lacing. The aroma consists of rich malt and dark fruit, plus some hints of spicy alcohol. Full body with flavors of chocolate-covered raisins, sweet malt and touches of peppery alcohol. The finish is sweet with a lingering malty aftertaste. Enjoyable throughout.