North Coast Old Stock Ale

Brewed by North Coast Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Fort Bragg, California USA

2008 vintage bottle. Pours a red/brown color with a white head which slowly dies. Vinous, strong aroma of dark fruits, malt, toffee, and english hops. Complex, malty, sweet flavour with nice aromatic hops and a good bitterness. There’s also notes of liqourice and much toffee in the taste. The alcohol is nicely warming at first but I must say it turns quite boozy after a while in the glass. Aging is needed - 12,5 % is nothing to play with ... 9/4/7/4/16=4,0

2009 vintage. Redbrown with mediumsized beige-white head - looks beautiful, love the color. Aroma is very malty with caramel/toffee, molasses, fruit candy, flowery hops, dried fruits and alcohol. Flavour is very sweet with lots of caramel, toffee, and molasses. There’s also dried fruits, fruity candy and grassy/flowery hops. Nice bitter finish with some warming alcohol. Fullbodied in the mouth, carbonation is average. Surprisingly good this young - I will check out one of my remaining 2008 bottles soon...

Maybe I missed something here but this didn’t sit perfectly with me. Something I can’t put my finger on stopped me from truly enjoying this. May be it was the overpowering alcohol. Need to re rate

12 oz bottle of the 2007 edition. Pours red brown with a fizzy light tan head. Aroma is heavy honey, fresh bread, caramel, and a bit of alcohol. Maybe a touch of vanilla. Flavor is significantly less satisfying. The bread, honey, and caramel come through, but alcohol dominates. A second bottle shows significant improvement, with the alcohol still present but not as strong, bumping up the score a bit.

Bottled (2004 vintage, 11,4%). A lightly hazy dark ruby beer with a small and disappearing beige head. The aroma is quite powerful, with notes of caramel, dried fruits, alcohol, some hops. Very vinous nose. The flavour is quite sweet, but nicely balanced between its ingredients. Fruity and lightly toasted malt notes. Lightly and not ovely syrupy and sticky. Medium to full body, soft/average carbonation, long finish with medium bitterness. The alcohol is felt maybe too much, but I think it’s warming more than disturbing. On eof the better American barley wines I’ve tasted, enough balanced and not hop dominated. Very good.

12 oz. bottle 2005 vintage from sprinkle. Pours a hazy orange brown color with a small creamy beige head. The aroma was thick caramel malts, dark fruits, figs, molasses, and a hint of alcohol. The flavor is similar to the aroma: chewy caramel malt goodness, moderate sweetness, fruity, toasted bread, and toffee. The alcohol is only present as a warming sensation after having had a few drinks. This is a solid offering and comes at the right price.

Bottle, 2006 vintage. Pours a dark, rich brown, hint of purple, cloudy to the point of opaqueness, with a very thin, whispy tan head. Aroma is caramelized brown sugar and dark fruits, hint of fresh baked dark bread. Taste is rich, sweet caramel up front, alcohol is well hidden, spicy without any heat, spiciness really accented towards the finish. There’s a bit of a yeasty, breadiness to the body as well. Finish is more rich, sweet, slightly bready malt, with a hint of over-ripe dark fruit mixed in also. Mouthfeel is full bodied without being syrupy, just a hint of sharpness in the carbonation. One of the better executed British-style barleywines I’ve tried from an American brewery. 12 oz bottle is perfect for splitting as an after-dinner drink. Re-rate: Draught, ’03 vintage, at BTAH VSK. Pours cloudy brown, with a bit of red-orange peeking through. Thin khaki head. Nose is rich and sweet - toffee, caramel, brown sugar, bit of walnut. Very intense and rich, full, but with a mellowness that belies the size. alcohol is almost undetectable, except in the slightly off-sweet finish, where it balances the beer somewhat. Lightly carbonated. Nice experience.

2007 Bottle. Pours a murky orangish-brown with a white ring. Aroma is sweet, malty, and spicy. Taste is sharp up front and then warmer, sweet and bitter malt kicks in, with some fruit and molasses notes. Lingering malty bitterness. A little bit unusual and really tasty.

2008 vintage. Aromas of sweet toffee, licorice, and light hops. The beer looks nice enough with a deep red color, without much head, that eventually diminished and made a pretty swirl on top of the beer that pretty much stuck around till the very end. The flavor was very nice, it reminded me of a very rich dopple oktoberfest sort of beast. Malty indeed but remarkably well bittered with no trace of syrupy sweetness one would expect from such a young barley wine. You couldn’t ask for much more in the palate, certainly a pleasure to drink such a rich brew with the alcohol well hidden it gives this a fantastically smooth texture.