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Great Divide Old Ruffian

Great Divide Old Ruffian  - Barley Wine

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 Percentile 
99
overall
Brewed by Great Divide Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine

Denver, Colorado USA

bottled
common

on tap
available

Broad Distribution
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 Ratings  Average  Score  ABV  Style Pctl  Serve in 
8693.92/5.03.91/5.010.27%93.7Snifter
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Commercial Description:
Old Ruffian is a hefty, hop-forward Barley Wine. Seemingly mellow at first sniff, with its subtle fruit aromas and complex caramel sweetness, this deep mahogany-hued ale quickly shows its true character marked by bold hop flavors and massive hop bitterness. Old Ruffian’s rich, slightly creamy, caramel malt mouthfeel balances its grapefruit, pine, and floral hop flavors, working wonders on your palate.
A mind-numbing 90 International Bittering Units (IBUs).
 Most Recent Top Raters Highest Ratings Who's Rated This?  
 MadIndian (987), Levittown, Pennsylvania, USA
3.6 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/56/104/516/20
May 5, 2007  
Bottled. A gift from Dennis Bell. Heavy hop\citrus aroma as soon as bottle is poped. Nice mahogany pour. Slight roast flavor with a definite citrus hop bite. A good brew. I have had better Barley wines but this one was definetly a champ.


 Quevillon (1518), Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec, Canada
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/58/104/517/20
May 4, 2007  
Bouteille de 22 oz, par HogTownHarry. Couleur terre cuite brumeuse, moyen collet avec de la dentelle. Arome de malte de caramel anglaise et de petits fruits alcoolisés. Bon goût de malte caramelisé, un peu de noisette et fruits confies. Agréable!


JNSTEX (12), Bryan, Texas, USA
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/517/20
Apr 30, 2007  
Pours dark brownish red with light brown head that dosen’t hang arond too long, the aroma was damn good. Dosen’t lack in any of the taste,palate, appearance and aroma departments. very well rounded barley wine style beer. The only thing i could find wrong, was its "price"...other than that..."great job"....Great Divide..


 keith0718 (157), Olathe, Kansas, USA
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
5/105/57/105/518/20
Apr 29, 2007  
I am really enjoying this one. The malt is almost over powering. Definitely a sipper. Thick, malty, and really not too hoppy. A beer lover’s alternative to wine. I do think, though, that I prefer Sierra Nevada’s Bigfoot barleywine.


 demitriustown (689), Shelby Township, Michigan, USA
3.7 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/103/58/103/515/20
Apr 26, 2007  
Bomber: Big on hops aroma, with a plum texture too caramel malts nicely mixed with some pine needles and grapefruit. Appearance is a muddy reddish/orange with a medium sized tan head that lasts. Flavor consists of bitter malt notes, with another big hop notes nice warming brew. The caramel and some toffee come through with this brew. Overall, a decent barley wine. It’s not my favorite for this style but definitely drinkable.


 bierkoning (5985), La Tropica, Netherlands
3.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/103/58/104/516/20
Apr 17, 2007  
Bottle. brown color. Red berries, malt and cascade hops in the aroma. Hint of cinnamon. Malty sweet flavor with flowery and earthy hops, citrus and raspberry. Warming alcohol, reasonably well hidden. A taste bomb that is still pretty well balanced.


 gunsho (134), Louisville, Kentucky, USA
3.7 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
6/104/58/104/515/20
Apr 17, 2007  
a caramel and roasted malt nose was was surprising for its hot, smokey, biting flavor. the mouthfeel was very active and was nice and heavy, yet no overbearing. quite a nice barley wine. on tap @ rich o’s gravityhead ’07.


 awaisanen (1279), Irvine, California, USA
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/104/58/104/516/20
Apr 15, 2007  
From a 22oz Bottle. Pours a mostly hazy dark coppery amber color with some late fall harvest apple skin ruddy hues and a thin layer of creamy off-white head. Lots of interesting sweet and spicy malt characters going on in the aroma; I’m getting whiffs of deep caramel, cinnimon spice, vanilla, jaggery sugar, and a hint of mace. The caramel character seems to be really deep and complex, and is one of the most pleasant vanilla caramel malt characters I can remember smelling in a beer. Some fainter scents of pine and red grapefruit zest hops spice it up a bit more; I wish I knew what vintage this bottle was. Full bodied, creamy mouthfeel with a soft carbonation. Very nice balance between the caramel malts and the hops, with a little bit of malty spiciness in there for good measure. Well carbonated without any detectable notes of oxidation; alcohol seems to be well hidden as well. The balance between hops and malts seem to be right on too, which again, makes me wonder the vintage of this one; it certainly doesn’t taste like 90 IBUs. Either way, I’m enjoying it immensely, so back to my beer. Heavy caramels, vanilla, toffee, and even a bit of dry tobacco start off the palate, and are balanced by an herbal hoppiness that keeps growing in presence until the finish, where it leaves a pleasant and not-overbearing piney final smack to balance out some of the malt sweetness.



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