Great Divide Old Ruffian

Brewed by Great Divide Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Denver, Colorado USA

Pours a muddy murky opaque dull orangish brown with a nice creamy fluffy light beige head. Strong sweet caramely bitter piney aroma, a bit of fridgy ambrosia. First taste is really sugary and quite full and fluffy, nearly burnt caramel (reminds of me of burnt popcorn), bitter resiny earthy hops, lightly floral, some ambrosia like creaminess. Strong flavors, but nothing extraordinary or mind-blowing. This stuff is 2 notes, huge caramel and bitter pine. I wish they would date stamp this stuff, I can tell the hops have faded a bit. I was hoping to rate this fresh as its supposed to be a hop bomb. I have another bottle I’ve been aging for a year for later. Full bodied, sugary, creamy with fluffy carbonation. Finishes very bitter. A tasty beer that could really use some oak aging... ooo that would be good.

Bottle purchased about a year ago. Pours a hazy pale mahogany with a creamy ecru head that leaves behind a ladder of lace in its wake. The nose is a nice blend of dark caramel malt and fruity, floral and piny hop notes. Full-bodied and creamy-oily this one is tongue-coating with a solid, resinous, hoppy finish that melds well with its big malt front. Dark, almost burnt, caramel malt is immediately followed by a solid hit of citric, floral and piny-resinous hops that linger in a sweet/bitter finish. Despite my affection for hoppy beers, if I had tried this fresh, I think I might have found it a bit too bitter. But with the year (or more) on this bottle, it’s a very tasty American barley wine.

One pint, 6 oz. bottle pours a dark amber into a thick foamy tan head which mostly dissipates into heavy lacings that melt down the glass. Aroma of roasted caramel malts and sweet citrusy hops. Initial flavor of spice, creamy malts and sweet citrus quickly fading into full bodied bitter piney and flowery hoppy finish.

22oz bottle from Mr. Dunderbaks (Tampa, FL). Pours a dark caramel red brown color with a thick and foamy tan head. Aroma is sweet and hoppy with notes of caramel, malt, vanilla, honey, spice, hints of toffee. Strong phenol presence in nose and palate. Flavor is sweet and hoppy with notes of caramel and toffee, some hints of spice and citrus. Generally full body with a malty and hoppy finish.

Thanks for the share kiefdog. Pours a deep copper color with an aroma of malt, vanilla, hops, and caramel. Flavor is same with definite hop presence. These hops stay for a while and make it seem slightly unbalanced. Not bad, but maybe it was just young.

Bomber, pours a ruby color with thin head. Aroma of malt, alcohol, and hops. Taste is bitter, with off-setting sweetness, and alcohol burn finish. A solid barley wine.

Pours a deep rich copper with thin white head. Aroma is of rich caramel, alcohol and floral hops. Taste is rich caramel, sweet malt, light note of citrus hops. Mild carbonation and semi-dry finish. Good stuff.

Pours a rich ruby color with a thin off-white head, and a few streams of lacing. Aroma is hoppy, fruity, some peat, wood, and sugary-sweet. Taste is sweet, wood, some citrus, and bitter hoppiness.