Max Old 320 Barley Wine

Brewed by Max Lagers
Style: Barley Wine
Atlanta, Georgia USA

Serve in Snifter

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Color is a nice clear reddish-brown. Aroma is strong and malty, not complex but promising. Flavor is strongly malty with quite an alcohol bite - typical of a barleywine - and a hint of caramel or toffee. Texture is smooth but a little edgy, and it goes down with a hint of liquid fire.

Dark. Dark amber pour with a thin tan head. Scent is caramel and sugar. Taste is sweet malts and fruit.

Sample. Dark amber/red with tan head. Flavour is malt, dark fruit, caramel and hops.

On tap at the brewpub. Pours a reddish brown body with a creamy, inch thick, beige head that dissipates slowly and leaves a nice lacing. Aroma is nicely malted with deeper, medium sweet caramels and some toffee. A moderate amount of earthy hops with some raisin and a light citrus. Some pine and a hint of smoke. Flavor is similar. A good amount of earthy hops with a nice citrus pine. Deeper caramels with a lighter raisin and some toasted toffees. A hint of smoke again as this finishes dry and lightly sweet with a good amount of bitterness. Lengthy aftertaste following a medium full body and light, creamy carbonation. Overall, a very nice brewpub barley wine. Well hopped with a nice malt backing. Good one.

Pour was deep amber with some frothy head and some ok lacing. This thing was like a bit of a muted Bigfoot...lots of caramel and raisin like flavors with a mild level of hoppiness. It was an enjoyable brew, but nothing to write home to mom about.

Cask: Pours a deep amber brown color with a tan head. Aroma is caramel, toffee, and some hops. Flavor is malty, caramel, and a bitter earthy citrus hop finish.

Cask @ ATL Cask Ale Fest ’08. Notes of hops, malt and toffee. Decent but not great.

Appearance: Pours a murky, dark brown body with a thin, wispy beige head. Smell: Muddled aroma of various notes - dark caramel, citrus, pine, and even a pinch of roast. Taste: Earthy, soil-strewn dark caramel flavor with, well, not much sweetness. Citrusy, piney hops with a moderate bitterness that lasts into the finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: One of those beers that is only a barleywine by name alone.

Tasted at Atlanta Cask Ale fest. Pours a deep cloudy ruby color. Aroma of fruit and hops. Taste of sweet malts, fruit, and hops. Finish is hoppy.

UPDATED: MAY 13, 2012
Date: January 28, 2006
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewpub
Appearance: clear dark amber, frothy tan head, dripping lace
Aroma: huge earthy hop aroma on a slightly sweet carmel malt base
Body: slightly thin body
Flavor: rich carmel malt flavor well balanced with plenty of bitterness, a bit of sweetness shows up after a while

Date: January 28, 2006
Mode: atl cask fest
Appearance: clear dark amber, frothy tan head
Aroma: big sweet piney aroma
Flavor: huge carmel malt flavor, lots of sweetness tempered by some earthy hop bitterness, well balanced, a good notch above the keg version

Date: January 26, 2008
Mode: cask
Source: Atlanta Cask Ale Fest
a lot drier this year with the dark caramel dried out by lots of earthyness,

Date: May 01, 2010
Mode: draft
Source: brewpub
Score: 2.9 to 3.1
Appearance: clear dark amber, huge frothy beige head, thick drippy lace
Aroma: sweet caramel malt aroma, nice fruityness, light earthyness
Flavor: rich caramel flavor, still a lot of dry earthyness, touch of fruityness, lingering bitter finish.

Date: March 31, 2012
Mode: draft
Source: brewpub
dry earthy caramel, rich, vanilla sweetness, growing sweet carmel fruityness, would be nice to see an aged version,

Date: April 15, 2012
Mode: draft
Source: brewpub
Score: 3.1 to 3.9
Appearance: very creamy
Body: the vanilla and caramel sweetness with the creamy body makes this beer
Flavor: fruityness will come into its own with age, caramel and toffee

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.9/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: *** /4