Great Divide Old Ruffian

Oh $%&!, this stuff pours like molten caramel. The viscosity is even fuller than Old Numbskull. Medium froth with just enough effers to keep it from flat. The nose is slightly sweet malt and not even close to being indicitive of the flavor. At first sip you get the 90 IBU’s, big fat caramel with a dash of grapefruit. By mid bottle you realize you’re actually drinking creamed belt leather. You laugh at how this could be so and look down to make sure your belt is still around your waist, like you passed out and someone gagged you with your own belt and then tried to be funny and poured lathered caramel into your vocal orifice. But no, you’re actually drinking the freakin finest barely wine known to mankind. It’s so well ballanced with not even a hint of alcohol. Very rich and chewy. Old Ruffian has moved into my # 1 slot for this genre bumping Numbskull to 2nd. It’s half the price also. I highly recommend this brew.

Serving type: cask Reviewed on: 02-13-2007 17:41:54 2006 GABF Gold Medal batch on cask at the Falling Rock for barleywine month. The color was dark red with a fluffy head. The smell was floral, hoppy, and so alluring. This beer’s smell really builds up the anticipation as far as the taste. The taste did not disappoint. Mmmm, hops, caramel, toffee, goodness. This was one of the best beers I have had in a long time. Now I have to grab some bottles for the cellar.

This massivie monster of a beer is just amazing. Light molasses aroma, with a great appearance, this is an excellently thick example of the style. Good thick molasses flavor and just packed full of hops. It’s great from the head on down to the last drop.

Pours a nice dark brown with very little head. The head has that same whiteness at the top as the Old Numbskull. However this beer is darker in appearance. The aroma is very hoppy with a lot of graitfruit, citrus, caramel and brandy. The aroma is nice but too hoppy in my opinion. The flavor starts too bitter but as it goes down the hops, caramel, citrus and graitfruit become present. The only drawback is that there are too much hops and graitfruit in this beer. The bitterness takes away from the enjoyment a little bit on this one. I’m still really impressed and look forward to trying more beers from this brewing company. The amount of hops in this simply show me that they are pretty good at Barley Wines and great at IPAS. I still recommend this though. In Philadelphia they have this at the Foodery which is on 10th and Pine. Re-rate- I had this again and it was fantastic. It is important to let the flavors mellow out in my opinion. Wonderful caramel and pinapple combination in the taste along with bourbon. This is about as great a Barley Wine as you can find I think. It is important to let the flavors mellow.

This beer punches the nose with a huge aroma of sweet hops, caramel, and citrus fruit. The glass is filled with a dark copper colored solution that resides under a thick maize colored head. The beer is introduced by a plethora of tastes as this moderately heavy fluid flows through the mouth. The taste of grapefruit opens up the taste buds soon followed by an infusion of dates and caramel. All these tastes are just a precursor to the hops explosion that takes place over the taste buds. The hearty hoppiness lingers well and lingers leaving the mouth in a blissful tingle.