McGuires I’ll Have What the Gentleman on the Floor is Having Barley Wine

Brewed by McGuires Irish Pub & Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Pensacola, Florida USA

Serve in Snifter

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@ Destin. Murky brown with small but clinging tan head. Aroma has a bit of solvent character that burns off later. when it does burn off has a sweet malty body with lots of ripe fruits, honey, maple, and loads of the Indian fruit chikoo. Smooth, low carbonation. Alcoholic finish but a balanced body with some decent hop character and a nice ripe fruitiness throughout.

Had this a few times at the original Pensacola location. Pours a thick tan with little beige head. Aroma has dark fruit backed by butterscotch and a slight bourbon kick; the best part of the beer. Flavor is more astringent with the alcohol more at the forefront. Softly lingering butterscotch but very hot, even by barleywine standards.

Appearance: Pours a hazed, dark amber body with a smallish, frothy, bone white head. Smell: Toasted caramel maltiness with light, easy-going wafts of booze, citrus, and apricot juice. Taste: Lightly toasted caramel with a candylike sweetness allow in a minor citrus hop character and a fairly mild bitterness considering the style. Of course, let’s not forget the tongue pinch of alcohol. Hint of apricot. Finishes bittersweet with a warming alcohol presence. Mouthfeel: Medium-full body. Medium-low carbonation. Drinkability: Here’s the thing about McGuire’s Pub’s Barleywine: it’s kind of a barleywine lite. It’s easy on the malt depth and certainly light on the hops and bitterness. Like Budweiser: "The difference is drinkability."

Pours a medium brown with a non existent head. Aroma is slightly plastic-y along with the expected barleywine sweetness. Also tastes mildly plastic-y without much body. Not so impressive.

Draught, Destin
Muddy brown body with a nice, loose head. Rich dark sugars on the nose with plum, raisin, golden demerara, apple pie and guava. Rich and quite alcoholic but with a serious dark fruit note (plum, burnt cherry). Lots of dark toffee sugars (okinawan black sugar). Finishes rich, dry, fruity, complex. Burly...it’s not refined but tasty and a lot of fun.

Bottle: Deep Amber, moderate light beige head, foamy, spotty lacing, no noticeable carbonation.   Sweet and biscuity malts on the nose.   Very little hop presense.   Guessing its more of an English style Barley Wine, which is fine with me.   Sweet malty goodness on the tongue, caramel, slight biscuity malts.   Totally an English Barley Wine.   Quite lovely actually, bigger than expected.   Clean, nothing dominates.   Good balance of malt and hops.   Tiz on the maltier side tho, barely.   This bottle was from the 2006 CBC & its still going strong.   Really surprised by this one.   Not big, but well balanced and clean.   Thanks to dunkeylips for sharing.

GABF 2007: Poured a hazy copper color with an off-white head. Sweet fruity malt with notes of golden raisins. The flavor was malty and fairly sweet with the taste of fruit skins. Medium to full bodied. Moderate bitterness and a dry finish.

UPDATED: NOV 20, 2011
Name: I’ll Have What the Gentleman on the Floor is Having Barley Wine
Date: August 24, 1996
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewfest, Chattanooga
lots of malty ester aroma and flavor, light hops, malty from start to finish lots of esters, strong and good body

Name: I’ll Have What the Gentleman on the Floor is Having Barley Wine
Date: September 23, 2006
Mode: draft
Source: brewfest
Appearance: clear dark amber, big thick crram colored head, nice lace
Aroma: rich malt aroma with earthy hops
Flavor: huge sweet carmel malt flavor, a bit worty, nice balancing bitterness, just a hint of hot alcohol, too drinkable

Name: I’ll Have What the Gentleman on the Floor is Having Barley Wine
Date: January 27, 2007
Mode: atl cask fest
picking up a nice woody oak character from somewhere, not oaked conditioned as far as I knew,

Name: I’ll Have What the Gentleman on the Floor is Having Barley Wine
Date: March 29, 2009
Mode: bottle
Source: tasting
Vintage: 2001
Aroma: sweet and fruity aroma, lots of dark caramel sweetness, fruity character is coming on strong with a touch of sherry
Body: body is thining out
Flavor: rich caramel flavor, touch of alcohol is still lingering, sweet fruits, light balancing bitterness

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.7/5.0
Drinkability: 9/10
Score: ***+ /4

On cask at the 1/27/07 Atlanta Cask Ale Tasting: Pours a hazy dark copper brown with a thin coating of off-white suds atop. Aroma of sweet, lightly toasted caramel malt with a touch of mild citrus hops. Body starts sweet and malty with some earthy bittering hops and some mild citrusy flavor hops. Finishes smooth and bittersweet. Not hoppy enough to be an American-style barleywine or malty enough to be British-styled, but still a pretty well balanced between styled barleywine that does hide the alcohol well.

On tap at Florida Brewers Guild Fest 2007. Pours a deep copper with lasting tan head. Sweet malt and dark fruit aroma. Flavor is smooth and drinkable with semi sweet pine hops, roasted malts, dark fruit and a hint of maybe pale malts. Slight sense of the ABV.

12/02/06 Walk the Line Barleywine Festival, Dunedin, FL. 2001 vintage sample from a keg. Hazy amber color with tan head. First sense of the aroma seemed to be oak or vanilla. My second sniff didn’t pick that up at all. The aroma became more sweet malts and dark fruitiness. Really soft hop flavor with some malt sweetness and fruitiness. This one seems like it just recently passed its prime.

The 2000 sampled from a keg actually tasted a bit brighter with more assertive hoppiness and fruity cherry/grape flavor than the 2001.

The 1997 sampled from a keg had no head and almost no aroma. The flavor was nice though and I thought the best of the three. There was a toffee note that mixed well with the dark grape fruitiness and hops.