Full Sail Old Boardhead Barleywine

Brewed by Full Sail Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Hood River, Oregon USA

Serve in Snifter

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UPDATED: MAR 26, 2007 2003 vintage sampled with Chuck! Thanks a billion! Looks like apple cider. The aroma is Ambrosia fruit salad, flaked barley, malty, apples, nice malts. The flavor is very nice. Fresh flaked barley and whole grain cereals, almonds, Waldorf fruit salad, malts and Goldings hops. Very delicious. The palate is very smooth and hides the 10+% alcohol. Rich and awesome. This is a really good beer. 9, 3, 9, 4, 19 = 4.4

Brewed on 11/10/1998. Bottled on 10/07/1999. Consumed on 03/22/2007. This really old vintage came in a 12 oz bottle and was well worth the $$$ I had to pay to get it. The beer pours to a bronzed amber body with a sexy glowing vibrance before I did a full pour. Then it became slightly murky. Ultra-tiny bubbles slowly rise through the body and were visible before full pour. A thin white head graces the top of the beer. The aroma leaps out of my barleywine glass. Sweetly delicious. Ambrosia, Waldorf salad, light barley, nice sherry, madiera, and a highlands or blended scotch. My God! It’s so nicely blended and perfect. The flavor is sherry, sweet barley whiskey wash, and is simply phenomenal. Extremely complex. Perhaps lightly oxidized but I don’t care, I love how this tastes. The palate is coating, lingering, sweet, moderately full-bodied, and nicely textured. Some noticeable carbonation on the tongue. Further consumption leaves toffees and nougats on the palate. I’d say this vintage still has some years left.

2001 vintage, 22 oz. bottle. Aroma is hugely fruity, estery, sweet and malty. Attractive garnet hue, with beautiful, almost delicate carbonation and lacing. Flavor profile is quite complex, with some light berry flavors, alcohol, brown sugar, apple butter and a generous amount of spicy hops to provide a great balance. Finish is very long and sees a bit more alcohol. Mouth-filling, warming, satisfying feel. Leaves your glass all sticky. This is great stuff. Thanks Gusler!

Assertive creamy, caramel malt aroma with some raisin/prune fruit and overshadowed hops. Smooth, oily palate, hop presence throughout but really doesn’t bitter until the finish. Great dark fruit and caramel malts, creamy vanilla in latter half. Extremely hearty and warming, but perfectly balanced.

750 ml bottle, shared with and provided by TAR (thanks buddy). Bright strawberry-cherry-red; enormous, luscious fruity nose, full of berries, licorice, vanilla, caramel and light fresh herbs. Incredibly smooth, quite sweet with just a twist of dry hops to finish; middle sweet and smooth; toxic perfume in the nose, seductive poisoned flowers...perhaps just a bit dry and dusty to finish, but what a masterful work overall!

Huge beer. Starts with a great fruity and malt nose. Attractive: slighlty cloudy red-amber color and a tight creamy head. Complex tastes of toasted malt, dark fruits (raisins), and spices (cinnamon in the middle), with a peppery end. Finishes with a long hoppiness that is not overpowering like bigfoot. Fantastic balance - love it! This shows some very controlled, sophisticated brewing. Went perfect with Yogi_Beera's apple pie.

Dark bronze color with off redish hues. Off-white head with good lacing. Aroma is sweet with a fruity complex raisinish smell. Alcohol is well hidden in this giant beer. Flavor is of alcohol, almost cloying but a perfect balance of IBUs to balance out the flavor. Subtle hints of fig and cheeses. Dry and sweet, refreshing and wonderful. This is my favorite barleywine up until now.

Bought in the 22 oz bomber..with a nice plain label...2002 reserve. Well this starterd of as a rageing off white head but clamed down within 6 minutes to a nice lace..atop a slightly murky amber coloured beer, mmmm the aroma of this ale is exceptional i sense all kinds of malts and hops in a dance of olafactory pleasure..also the alcohol is plain and in view.. Nice malty tatse quyicklly overcpome by the hop bitterness and more importantlly the alcohol..though its not unpleasant warming..its a toffee, buttery alcohol taste at first then a stronger alcoholic tasting Sherry wine.. wonderful stuff. Very nice indeed in the mouth ..pretty smooth. Al in all a very drinkable barley wine for 9%!

Incredible. This beer will kick you in the head if you're not careful. The nose is potent, exuding powerful hops and a forward maltiness. The color looks intense, as it is a deep, ruby copper color (if that makes sense). Lots of fruity ester in the nose presage an intense, full flavor profile: malt, a melange of hops, some interesting fruit (bing cherries, berries) and chocolate. A very interesting drinking experience. Two 22 oz. Old Boardheads will send you over the falls.

UPDATED: NOV 20, 2005 2003 bottle. Poured a deep orange color. Head is almost yellowish white. Head leaves quickly and slight foam ring is left around the edges. Aroma is malty and hoppy. First taste is malty and fruity, almost like pineapple. Mouthfeel is medium. Malt seems to swirl about and then a long withdrawn hop finish. Indeed close to a 120 minute and Immort Ale hybrid. 2005 bottle sampled 11/05. A bright, highly polished copper color and incredibly clear. Big off-white head forms and slowly dies down but never seems to fade below a quarter inch in depth. Fresh fruity flavors, sweet and gummy. Lots of floral hops. Medium bodied and fairly smooth, alcohol is listed at 9% and hidden nicely. Bitterness is well done and fresh if that is possible. Listed at 91 IBUs but drinks smaller than that. Really nicely done and this will bump up the score a bit.

03 Reserve. Big thanks to Brock_Landers. Brock sent me 3 or 4 top 100 beers. This one is turbid deep copper with minimal head (no deductions due to high ABV). Aroma of malt, dark fruit, cognac, hops, gingerbread, black pepper. Not as intense as the HOTD Doggie Claws aroma, but I give both 9s. Tastes very malty, fruity, with hops, dark fruit, some toffee, cognac. This one is a bit more refined and balanced than the Doggie Claws, but not as "in your face" intense. Dense finishing palate, with a somewhat krieky finish, and also a hit of rauch. I can’t decide whether this or Doggie Claws is better. They are both great. This one is a tuxedoed, smooth, finessed barleywine, while the Doggie Claws is a rough around the edges, long haired hippie. Both have their purpose, and as far as I’m concerned, they are both at the top of the genre. My 2nd 4.5 rating for a Barleywine tonight. Dare I try the Avery The Beast next!!!?? Stay tuned, fans. I may need a Goddamn stretcher! Yeah man!