Dogfish Head Olde School Barleywine

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

Serve in Snifter

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This version was bottled in 2009 Pours a dark golden honey, clear with light carbonation. Head is off white, 1/3 inch and lasted throughout the whole beer. Lacing was amazing and coated the whole glass, amazing appearance. Smell is pretty sweet for such a strong beer, lots of honey, caramel and butterscotch/diacetyls. Also present is molasses/artificial maple syrup mixed with lingering hops. Surprised that I didnt get any alcohol aromas at all. Taste is definitely not what I expected for 15% beer. Its almost like someone took sisyphus or olde gnarlywine and dumped some honey and simple syrup into the glass. Buttery diacetyls follow suit with some faint hops rounding it out. Alcohol isnt tasted too much but rather more present as a warming sensation down the throat. Mouthfeel is somewhat syrupy but there is just enough carbonation to prevent it from being too heavy. Head adds a nice smooth coating to the top of the beer which is probably the most important thing I look for when grading mouthfeel. Overall this beer is pretty good but abit too much on the sweet side. Maybe it was aged too much but I felt it needed a little more hops or alcohol to push it to elite status of barleywines. Drinkability is still great for such a strong beer though, will have to buy another bottle and not age it as long.

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