Heavyweight Old Salty

Formerly brewed at Heavyweight Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Ocean Township, New Jersey USA

Serve in Snifter

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A truly exceptional English Style Barleywine! Great presentation with the limited release wax sealed bottles. I believe the Philly rater above might be a bit confused with the taste of a young English Style Barley Wine. The date-like aromas, alcohol warmth, a slight hoppiness are all acceptable flavor charateristics of this style at this stage in the aging process. This is a beer to be aged, though it is amazingly smooth and very enjoyable now. One only has to compare a young Thomas Hardys with a 3-5 year version, to understand how this beer to going to progress over time. Regarding the twist-off cap, Sierra Nevada’s Big Foot Barleywine has one as well. This style of cap is neither prone to leaks or will effect the aging process, as I have had numerous bottles of vintage Big Foot. Old Salty is a fine beer!

UPDATED: OCT 9, 2008 Re rate a few years later with a 2005 bottle in 2008, courtesy dchmela. Plummy alcoholic nose. A little sweatsock. Sweet and fruity with a big round finish. Brownish light color.

Interesting packaging with a wax sealed crown. When I peeled the wax off - there was a brownish sticky material around the rim of the cap - leading me to think that one reason for the wax seals was that the crown seals were imperfect, resulting in some leakage (further confirmation was found when I popped the cap and discovered it was a twist off...on a bottle-conditioned barleywine??). Anyway, the beer was dark brown and cloudy, with a strong smell of date like maltiness and some hint at hops. Flavor was rather harsh, with a stinging hoppiness. I was only able to drink a little more than half of it.