Great Divide Old Ruffian

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

Serve in Snifter

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UPDATED: JAN 8, 2007 2006 bomber from Rooftoprogue, drunk on 11/21/06
First off, let me say that I really respect the commercial description on this one. No fancy claims and stunningly accurate. I might have some other ways of describing "the wonders" the hops work on your palate, but that’s just subjective.
All GD big beers show a large amount of head, well-retained and fluffy, with very light sediment on the bottom of the bottle. Medium-high clarity in a dark chestnut-mahogany with some hickory and dull auburn tints. Head is beige and creates ample lacing. Plentiful carbonation seen in the liquid.
True as they say, the nose is, at first, mellow and quite fruity. Mostly yellow fruits (light peaches, nectarines, apricots) slowly picking up hop influences to include orange rind, lemons and of course, grapefruit. But it’s certainly not brightly aromatic in the hop department. Thick and bitter, the hops hang over the other flavors with a strong, astringent/acidic leafiness. Some faint melon notes are present but quickly lose out to heavy resin. Warming on the finish from the alcohol, but no sharp/raw fumes. Caramel malt seems well attenuated, but still sticky, giving notes of treacle and molasses. Toffee and dry breadiness, something like munich malt almost seems apparent as well. Earthy, you might call the malt.
A brief interlude of light pale malt sweetness is banished by heavily bitter, resinous/citric hops. Intensely acidic and drying, it’s no stretch to imagine the 90 IBUs here. It immediately begins to fatigue my palate, and some bready malts, with traces of lightly sweet toffee and caramel are felt in the back of the palate, holding more sway over the texture than the flavor balance. Still, as much as some sweet malt would create more balance, I don’t think it would ameliorate the heavy/fatiguing feel of the hop acids and thus, I like the dry, attenuated feel of the malt here. Crusty, earthy, crunchy and quite lean, though the beer is never watery or undermalted. Hops burn through to the finish and a pine sap numbness is left on the palate. Well-made, in respect to the attenuation, cleanliness and general aims of the beer (it does exactly what the brewer seems to intend, according to the commercial description). In the end, though, I just find these beers to be obnoxiously crass and unbalanced; fatiguing to the extreme. As well, the aroma needs more finishing hops and brightness. It’s too dull and bitter. Not something I’d ever drink again, but I can see the appeal to hopheads.

Bottle. The pour was a clear dark mahogany red with a large (2-3 finger) light tan pillowy head that was mostly lasting, receding down to a large puddle and collar with excellent sheeting of lace. The aroma was of a sweet toasted biscuit malt, pine hops and a sweet doughy yeast with notes of toffee, citrus (grapefruit), caramel and some dark fruit (plums and raisons). The taste was sweet and rather malty with hints of toffee and dark fruit at first and then became slightly hoppy with a really nice bitter citrus note and a decent alcohol warming sensation at the end. The flavor hung around for a long while with a bitter sweet citrus flavor left to lie on the taste buds. Mouthfeel was just below medium in body with a dry oily texture and a prickly carbonation. Overall a sensationally tasting Barleywine with just the right blending of sweet malts and bitter hops...

Intense caramel and pine aromas, very bitter and hoppy but with enough caramel sweetness for balance. Very intense flavor and a long bitter finish. Very good, in small amounts.

dark reddish brown mahogany pour with a medium sized beige head... intense caramel and fruit aromas... at first touch of the tongue the malty caramel sweetness is huge! as it trickles down the sweetness slowly subsides and the citrus and some earthiness from the hops begin to kick in... at this point, got a nice coating throughout the mouth and at the last moment tons of bitterness jumps through, not necessarily overtaking the sweetness but def standing out at this point... until the next sip!

Hazy orange pour. Almost a brown sewer color in there. Small head. Aroma of sweet tropical fruit. Palate is medium bodied. Taste is pretty hoppy. There is a weird bitterness to it though. Almost cheese like.

22 ounce bottle into snifter, no bottle dating(but presumed to be Dec 2009 bottling). Pours fairly hazy brick red color with a nice 1 finger dense khaki head with great retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Some pretty nice lacing on the glass. Aromas of huge caramel, raisin, biscuit, toast, molasses, honey, pine, grapefruit, earth, herbal, toffee, and light spiciness. Fantastic and well balanced aromas with big complexity. Taste of huge caramel, raisin, molasses, toast, biscuit, herbal, grapefruit, earth, and light pine resin spiciness. Minimal bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of caramel, molasses, toast, raisin, biscuit, grapefruit, herbal, earth, and light spiciness on the finish for a while. Fantastic flavor balance and complexity; with no cloying sweetness at all. Medium carbonation and full bodied; with a nice creamy, slick, and thick mouthfeel. Quite smooth to sip on; with only an moderate alcohol warming present after the finish. Overall this is an absolutely fantastic barely wine with the age on it. The hoppy flavors smoothed out into perfect balance; with great complexity. Magnificent.

Bottled on Dec 2011, pours a rusty amber color with a small white head, lacing all around the glass. Nose is slightly sweet and fruity, a slight funkiness smell too. Taste great! Sweet at first with a nice hop bitterness on the end. Great brew! I’d love to age a few of these!

Bottle. Clear rusty amber pour with a foamy beige head that lasts a little while. Sweet malty aroma with a big toffee overtone has subtle notes of coffee, pine, musk, chocolate and citrus. Flavour is just like the aroma: malt driven but with a strong hop presence, hints of bread, nuts, spice, flowers and roastiness. Full bodied but not oppressively so, with a slick mouthfeel, soft carbonation and a long bitter, slightly spicy finish. Very nice and very easy drinking given the abv and the style.

4 finger beige head that sinks to 3mm, red-amber head. Nose: Plum, raisins, malt and madeira. Aroma: Raisins, plum, resin, grapefruit-peel, madeira, grapes, spruce and alcohol-sting. A bit "raw" or rustic in a good way. Long, dry and bitter ending.

Very cloudy dark amber-orange pour with a little head. Amazing aroma of caramel malt, rye, and citrus hops. Taste is very sweet at first (maybe a little too much) then bitterness strikes it down. Smooth finish. A very good barleywine but not my favorite. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Weicher, alkohlisch getreidiger Beginn. Deutliche Holznoten, im Mittelteil hopfige, später deutlich bittere Noten. Süßlich alkoholische Pflaumenaromen. 13/10/11/11/8/11