Dogfish Head Olde School Barleywine

Brewed by Dogfish Head Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Milton, Delaware USA

Serve in Snifter

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

This is the best barleywine I have sampled to date. I tend not to rate these beers as high as other types that I’m impartial to but I must say this one is very smooth. It is a meal in it self with very complex fruit and hop finish. Most beers this strong have an overbearing alcohol flavor. This one does not have that. Go see Matt at dogfish in rehoboth beach DE. Tell him your old school.

Bottle. From Kenwood, usually. Caramel and witchhazel, old pine bark and snakepit. Flavor is pine tar, Emmie’s arse, and liniment. Man, oh man! Sammy really got me this time! I gotta take his advice...

12oz bottle. This is a general overview of both fresh and aged olde school. I have recently tried both the 07 and 11 OS. The fresh OS has a great hoppy caramel nose, a little boozy. The caramel malts in the 07 are rich and lush in the aromas. This is hands down the most approachable fresh BW on the market. Many BW’s are too hot with alc, too bitter with hops and the malts are completely off balanced. This one, although a bit hot at 15 %, is smoother and less bitter than many BW’s fresh. When aged the 5 years it has completely mellowed out to a smooth toffee like finish. The ABV is well hidden. I place OS along with Stone’s Old Guardian as the two best and most accessable Barelywines in the country.

Very good beer! almost a wine instead of a beer but overall this beer rocks and is top notch!

Sweet caramel and fig smell. I noticed that many people said that this beer poured really clear, but I made sure to swirl the last fourth of the beer to stir up the sediment and boy did this beer pour beautifully cloudy. Amazing unfiltered amber. Thin head. Wonderful rich flavor and full palate. The best barley wine I’ve tried yet.

Ohhh the complexity! Pours a hazy darker orangish amber color, Thin head that sticks around. Lots of fruit in the aroma- apples, cherry, grape even a hint of pear. Big smell from the malt, like it’s gonna be so sweet your face will pucker. Taste is big and rich with heavy malts, candy, apples and grape. For being so big you really don’t notice the alcohol- very scary. A fantastic palate, very complex. Leaves a very sweet but nice aftertaste of dried fruit and malt.

From notes. 2007 vintage. A nice ruby red with a slight tinge of gold. The pour rendered about a quarter inch of white head. Beautiful lacing! A big nose of caramelized sugars, sweet malt, fruit, raisons, booze, honey. This beer smells awesome! The taste is great, sweet and malty with a bit of hop bitterness in the finish. I get honey, grape, strawberry, raspberry, a bit of chocolate, and some booze. The feel is silky and warm, oh so good... The carbonation on this 07 brew is sitting really nice, it is medium, but the way it blends with the silky smooth feel makes this elixir exciting and subtle at the same time.

12 oz bottle. Thanks to Michelle and Chelsea at Get n Go for setting this aside! Pours a hazy burnt orange with a medium beige head that falls after a few minutes. Aroma consists of toasted bread, brandy, caramel, dark fruit. Taste starts out sweet, turns bitter and then leaves a lingering tart and bitter finish. Alcohol is definitely noticeable, but it doesn’t taste 15%. It could easily pass for 9% ABV if one didn’t know any better. The dates and figs are strong in the flavor. Body is thick and chewy and the carbonation is average. Excellent, masterful, delicious...could be dangerous.

Aroma is balanced, yet promiscuous as it dances across the unique scents of the malt, and various fruit used in the brewing/conditioning process. Pours a hazy orange-reddish brown, with a thin head which quickly fades into a film. The flavor begins with a sweetness, which is quickly shoved away with a malty must, and then finished by a sourness. The mouth feel is nice. This beer is not too thick, nor thin. It has just the right amount of bubbling, which happens to be light. I am not a fan of over/under-carbonated beers... but for this style, the carbonation is perfect. After partaking into about 6 ounces of this clever brew... I find myself pleasantly buzzed, can’t wait to finish it.

Pours beautifully clear, with little to no head. Aroma is of figs and dates. Wonderful old cask smell lingers as well. Wonderfully smooth on the palate. A true treat!