Kona Old Blowhole Barley Wine

Brewed by Kona Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Kailua Kona, Hawaii USA

Serve in Snifter

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On tap at the Big Island pub. Clear copper/red with a slight tan head. Aroma is slight pine, deep raisin/date barley wine, and perhaps some caramel/toffee through the finish. Taste is a touch of hops up front followed by a thick sweet malt, raisin barleywine. Bit of hops on the finish. Solid representation of the style.

2009 on tap at brewpub. Pour is deep ruby red with almost no head. Aroma is loaded with caramel malt, notable hop component, and faint spice. Flavor is very typical barleywine, done well. Loads of caramel malt and light spice with a very pleasing and crisp hop component on the back end.

Brilliantly sweet, and aggressively hopped give this beer a very complex mouthfull of flavor. Loads of things going on here from the sweet caramel malt to the full yeast flavor, and bitter finish. The aroma is like rich toffee with some faint citrus sweetness. Not easy drinking, but certainly smooth sipping.

Pours a medium dark brown with reddish hue with residue. Tan head that lasts. Aroma is raisin, cranberry, pineapple, with some muskiness. Very complex. Taste is excellent as well...dark fruits and pine. Beware to all...the alcohol content changes frequently.

UPDATED: DEC 17, 2010 On draught at the brewpub in Kailua, served in a snifter. The beer pours a hazed mahogany color with an amber tinge. Thick and fluffy off-white head that burns away slowly. Large sticky patches of lacing on the glass. Bready malt, hops and caramel aroma. Rich and smooth body with a bold caramel malt character along with flavors of fruit, hops and a touch of chocolate. The finish is malty with a fig and caramel note left over. Pretty good all around.

Deep amber/bronze with creamy tan head and lace. Raisins, brown sugar, and caramel malt. Dried fruit, sweet malt, and a good resin bitter. Just a nice slight warmth from the abv. Medium bodied with smooth carbonation. Complex, smooth, and for real. Nice beer.

Served from the tap with a deep mahogany brown color and a thin creamy white head. The aroma had a berry-like malt sweetness up front with some earthy hops beneath. The flavor is more satisfying, with a smooth combination of earthy, herbal hops and a rich caramel malt sweetness. The beer seems fairly lightly carbonated, which helps to let the flavors out a bit, but it also makes the alcohol content of this one more noticeable.

Served on tap at the Marina Brew Pub. The appearance is a tawny brown with no real head. Flavors and aromas are perfume, alcohol, and a fair amount of hops. Did really do it for me.

A caramel color beer with not much head. The aroma is sweet with brown sugar showing up most. The taste is mainly caramel and goes down real easy. I was shocked to find out this was 12.5% ABV as it is hidden.

(Draught) Sampled at the brewery on October 1, 2009. Near headless with a mahogany body. Raisin pudding, with a good hoppy profile. Lovely balance between the malt and hops. Figs, chocolate milk, sour cherries. Kind of odd as a late-summer season (October) but done well to style. Very enjoyable.