North Coast Old Stock Ale

Props for barley wines still kicking asses. I have to say the 12.5% is the best thing about this beer. It burns the flavors into the palate like warm lime juice. Lots of roasty warm flavors in this one, helped copiously by the high abv to make them sting and stick to your palate. Grapes, cherry, apple skin, plum skin, flower buds, and brandy. Thin mouthfeel thanks to the astringency. This one is slightly hot, but that’s what distracts at first yet keeps it going with every new sip. Thumbs!!

(2008 bottle) Dark reddish-brown. No head except for a ring around the edge of the glass. Aroma is sweet with fruit (mostly cherry, some grape), roses, and a hint of hop. A sweet flavor upfront but that gives way to a dark roasted malt, and dry hop. Alcohol is there throughout but not that strong to start, only in the aftertaste does its strength really show. Long, dry, woody finish. Full-bodied and thick.

(2008 bottle) Chestnut and wheat aromas. Little lacing. Reddish brown pour. Yeasty sweet bread flavors. Mouthfeel is decently syrupy. Heavy in the malts.

2008 release... A bit premature, maybe, but an amber-chestnut pour into the glass, with a quickly diminishing eggshell head that dissipates to nothing (via the ABV%). The nose has caramel, aerated sugars, and a hint at sour yeasty fruits/dough. The flavors, peppered with alcohol notes throughout, have toffee sweetness, a slight bitter starting mid-palate, dark fruits, molasses, and a yeasty dough strain that insinuates itself toward the finish. The mouthfeel is definitely syrupy, with decent carbonation levels that are enhanced by the retentive alcohol burn.... (a little drier than I expected, honestly.) This is a definitively "heavy" brew, but all parts come together solidly with decent balance and complexity, providing a nice experience. I feel that aging the others in my cellar will only serve to take the "edge off" this offering, leaving a mellower brew that is just as complex and intricate. Prost!

On draft at State Line. Poured light brown in color with a thin tan head. Aroma of sweet caramel malt, light hops, some light alcohol and molasses. Tastes of malty, sweet caramel, molasses, light hops and some dark fruits. Finishes with some mild alcohol burn. Not bad however.

"they jacked up the abv to 13% in 2006, which i didn’t think was necessary...til i tried it. holy crap was it good. back near the top of the style over the last 3 years. on the malty side, which isn’t to say that there is a lack of hops...there is just such a huge sweet caramel malt taste that the hops barely make it through. GREAT beer!!"

Vintage of 2009. 11.5% ABV Pours a thin head over a clear mahogany colored body.....nose redolent of fruit notes along with bready malts....taste is dominated by sweet fruit including raisin, fig and cherry, the sweetness lingers throughout...balanced by mild hops....mouthfeel is rich and thick....this is delicious. It has many qualities, in its early youth, of a Belgian Strong or an Abt/Quadrupel.

2008 vintage from Brattleboro Co-Op, VT. Caramel brown body with slight, rocky head. Yeasty nose with slight sour notes. Fruity and tasty flavours. With sugar coming through and high ABV noticeable. But very warming and welcoming. Syrupy consistency. I usually quite dislike barley wines, so this is a real surprise.