Great Divide Old Ruffian

Mahogany red with a golden and dense head. The aroma has notes of fruit and light sweetness. The mouthfeel is oily. It’s a very complex beer, and the impressions invade my tongue and palate for a long time - actually the flavour develops for several minutes and goes deep down in the throat. I get notes of mango, preserved figs, licorice, pine, resin and hops - hops - hops! The sweetness are found in different levels, but never ever too sweet and the bitterness is nice and rather dominant throughout the entire flavour. A truly nice beer!!

Very good rasin cake aroma. Roasted malt with dried fruit. Clean amber color with frothy tan head. Thick and creamy in the mouth. Bitter hoppy flavor with cream cheese finish. Grapefruit and carmel. Rich and delicious. Very good overall.

22 oz. bottle (fresh bottle) from Plaza Liquor - Pours a slightly hazy amber color with a two finger thick off white head that slowly settles. Thick lacing. Aroma is toasty caramel malt and light esters. Has a candy sweet caramel malt flavor. Bitterness lingers. Alcohol is noticeable. Medium to full body. Be interesting to try in again after a year of aging. A good beer.

So far one of my favorite barleywines. Poured red with a huge head into my Duvel Tulip. Aroma was citrus upfront with a good malt finish. The flavor is very similar. The hops are all up front and the malt balanceseverthing in the end and together they hide the alcohol very well. I don’t think I will ever be able to age one of these and I don’t think it will help. Bottle at knightly spirits

This is a nice barleywine with a very hoppy, citrusy nose that also has a sweet malty backgruóund. The taste is hoppy, but with a huge body to back it up. Citrus, a bit of flowers some grapefruit and a nice ending with a lot of sweet malts to balance the bitterness. It nearly oily due to the hops. Nice one!

Clear garnet color with a pale yellow head that is creamy, firm, full, and persistant; head is somewhat lasting, leaving a creamy/frothy remainder with minimal lacing, the 5 is mainly for the wonderful head. Nose is mostly hoppy with pine resin, floral bouquet, and a touch of grapefruit citrus; in the background i get some alcohol and some buttery, sweet, candy-like malts. Flavor is very similar, bittersweet at first with grapefruit, apricot, pine with a buttery, caramel sweetness. With time, the sweetness dies out leaving the medium high bitterness to take over; flavors lingering into the finish include pine and floral hops with only a touch of apricot and rich caramel. Palate is medium to full, creamy, round, and soft; nice but would benefit from some time in the cellar. From the nose I would have thought that alcohol would be present on the palate, but the beer was meerly warming; the bitterness hides it well. Without the intense, candy-like sweetness, this would pass for a very decent IIPA. Well crafted BW; intense, enjoyable, and truly American in every way.

Pours straw kind of color with stout hop aroma but not overpowering. Very sweet beer but sweetness dies after a few sips. Alcohol is very well covered up, and hops are strong enough to moderately balance out the sweet taste. For how malty and sweet it is, the aftertaste is suprisingly more clean than you would expect. Great barleywine but not my favorite style.

Bottle. Pours an auburn hue with a nice off-white head on top. This head isn’t dissipating anytime soon! Aroma is full of caramel, dark fruit, and citrus hops. Flavor is full of pine and citrus hops, caramel malts, and fruit sweetness. The 90 IBUs are definitely there with hop bitterness from start to finish. The fruit sweetness in the middle helps keep it from going crazy. Another fantastic beer from Great Divide!