Dogfish Head Olde School Barleywine

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

Serve in Snifter

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Provided as a house warming gift by generous BA Southernbrew, I could not wait the couple of days it would be before I actually move. Well, he never was specific about which house this was intended to warm up, so here goes. The beer came in a long neck 12 oz. brown bottle that had a packaging date of Jan 2004 pinpricked in on the label. By the looks of it this one had not been sitting in a 2’x2’x3’ hole in the ground as instructed. When poured into a tulip, the beer looked hazy peachy orange with a short lived and sparse head. Latent carbonation appeared to be quite limited. The aroma was mouth watering grapefruits, dates, and peaches. The taste was sweet with the flavors of dates, figs, mandarin oranges, and toffee flowing freely. The hops were definitely there, but the malt suppressed them to a peppery zing in the mid palette. The aftertaste was boozy and bitter, and flowed by a slow long burn. The drinkability suffered a bit due to the high buzz factor and the sugary sweet taste, and I cannot see drinking much more than a single pint of this on any given night.

36cl, Vintage 2011, as Dogfish Head Olde School, American brew, thx to AdamJackson!, complex brew, sweet/alcoholic and slightly woody/spicy, heavy, yet balanced, hazy, small head, very good brew, WOW!

(From notes) On draft in a chalice at the Hungry Monk.  Pours a light amber with almost no head. Fruity aroma with a hint of apple cider. It has a ripe apricot/apple taste with a very boozy front giving way to a spicy raisin finish. The high ABV is very apparent with a heavy alcohol taste throughout. A decent Barlywine now, but could really benefit from a few years of aging. 

2009 vintage Pours a reddish copper color with no head but great lacing. Aroma of sweet malts and slight alcohol. Taste follows the nose, no alcohol burn, raisins and figs, cherries also present. Slightly chewy but goes down smooth. Not mind blowing but it’s still a really good barley wine!

(draught) clear amber, nice color, no head. Nose of alcohol, sweet caramel, esters, rum raisins. Taste of warming alcohol, toasty, a bit woody but dominated by alcohol.

Pours dark, rich amber from 12 oz. 2011 bottle. Thin, khaki head dissipates in middle, leaving a ring around the snifter. Smell is toffee, jammy orange, vanilla, alcohol. Taste is in my face; immediate booze from 15% backed by caramel, cereal, vanilla, brown sugar. Quite a tasty brew. Wonderful full body to complement the big flavor profile. Would like a few more 2011s (or older) to see how age treats them.

The pour is a slightly cloudy amber color with a finger of off-white head. Pretty brutal aroma. A bit of rubber cement and rubbing alcohol. There’s a little bit of candied citrus in there and some caramel. The flavor isn’t quite as brutal as the aroma...at first anyway. Lots of booze, some rubbing alcohol, and more booze. Caramel and citrus flavors are also present, but they give way to the less desirable ones as it warms.

Clear amber with a small pale head. Aroma is toffee, honey, orange peel. Slightly slick mouthfeel and sweet on the palate, with noticeable carbonation. Taste is caramel, apple juice. Quite intensely sweet.

Poured into snifter a hazy orange-brown coloring with a small head and some slight lacing to the glass. Excellent aroma, a real pleasure to smell. Taste was excellent. Very sweet and malty with definate flavors of fruit (dates, raisens, figs). A little bit of alcohol burn on the palate but for the most part, very well balanced. At 15% ABV, I think I will stick to consuming one bottle at a time!

Pours a murky orange brown color with minimal tan head. that quickly dissipates to a small film. Smells is very alcoholic with notes of sweet spicy fruits. Taste is sweet malts, raisins, toffee, and alcohol. Texture is syrupy. After taste is hot and sweet. This is a little too much alcohol and sweetness for my taste. There are some complex flavors in this, but they can be hard to distinguish underneath the heat of alcohol.

Tge nose has hints of raisin, fig, molases. Has raisin, date, a little oak. Has a hiof sweetness with enough bitterness to balance it. A very complex beer