Ithaca Excelsior! Old Habit

Brewed by Ithaca Beer Company
Style: Barley Wine
Ithaca, New York USA

Bottle 750ml, batch E007
Appearance: fine haze, straight brown brew , bright creamy head. 3+
Aroma: Rich. Caramel brown malt nose, plum sauce, hop feel with alcoholic cover. Hint of vanilla and almonds at finish. 8-
Flavour/Palate: Bitter, blend of mocha with hops. Very smooth yet with forward plowing bold character. Vanilla finishing. Solid offering from Ithaca.

(bottle - 750 ml) Dark brown pour with a puffy tan head. Aroma is light but malty with some candied sugars, roasted malts, coffee, and some vanilla. A touch of bourbon as well. Flavor is bready at the beginning with a sweet and malty middle. Some rye and coffee notes blend well with the hints of vanilla and oak and leads to a sweet and very lightly spiced finish. Thick and creamy on the palate.

(750ml bottle, batch E!007) Yeast-filled murky brown body topped by large beige head that leaves nice lacing. Aroma is medium sweet, caramel, raisin, some rye, alcohol. Taste is moderately sweet, caramel, raisin, some alcohol, light chocolate/vanilla. Full body with moderate stickiness that nevertheless is fairly easy to drink.

750 ml bottle shared with a bunch of cool guys. Aromas of sweet malts and dark fruits. Fruit on the flavor too, molasses, raisin, and alcohol on the finish. Good stuff.

9/20/2008 tasting at toncatchers house, with whetheral, weeheavy, fordest, alohac, and Jason. Thanks for all the great beers and good times. A very nice brew. The spice and fruit was a good combination.

Thanks to iowaherkeye for bringing this bottle to his ’farewell to Iowa’ tasting. Released 6/07, bottle #251. Poured a garnet brown color. The head was tan with an orange-ish tint. Smelled of molasses, toffee, dark fruits, and a splash of booze. Medium bodied and semi-sweet up front. Dry-ish finish with mild accompanying bitterness. Boozy whiskey, molasses, and toffee dominated the flavor. Decent beer.

Bottle. Cola brown body, big dense tan head, Centennials and some malt in the nose. Not a lot of spicy rye character, but malty, with PNW hops, some alcohol, and quite a bit of sweetness. Tasty, but not distinctive as I hoped it would be.

25 oz bottle. Pours a quite dark amber brown body with a very small fizzy beige head that ran to a thin ring. Very sweet and fruity malt driven aroma with heavy caramel, light oak, vanilla, light alcohol, and some Nutella. Quite sweet and fruity up front with lots of caramel and slightly burnt toffee, some nuttiness. The oak and whiskey flavors come out fairly subtly on the finish making it more of addition to the flavor than something that dominates it. The alcohol is noticeable, but not overpowering in the least. There’s also a nice almost roasty and chocolaty component that really plays well with the sweetness. I think that this will age really quite nicely when a bit of oxidation sets in. Mouthfeel is full and almost velvety with the somewhat low soft carbonation level. Just the slightest bit of clingy residual sugars late in the finish. Overall I thought that this was quite nice, an excellent sipper to take your time with enjoying it.