North Coast Old Stock Ale

Copper-caramel with good, creamy tan head / Big, winey nose of caramel and pit fruit / Full body, sweet and lively, with rich, syrupy malts balanced nicely by creamy hops, and with long finish / Flavors of toffee, raisins, dates, sherry, wood, vanilla, and black pepper / Another successful big ale from NC.

2007 vintage. Bottle. Aroma has notes of dried dark fruit, caramel, malt, and alcohol. Hazy dark red brown hue with a small fully diminishing off-white head that left no lace. Flavor is sweet with a slight alcohol. Palate is almost lively with carbonation, oily, and full bodied. A decent barley wine but I was expecting much more. But wait, as it warms everything changes. Flavors of change and everything becomes much more complex. Brandy, licorice, and red wine come forward. Palate becomes much more smooth and soft. Very nice after all.

Very viscous this has a strong sweetness to it but some noticable hops help to balance that out. Overall the flavors blend very nicely. I look forward to drinking this with some age on it.

2006 - The amorma was of sweet malt and fruit. The appearance was dark brown, tinit of red that was slightly cloudy with a minimal head. Flavor was stong of molasses, wine-like and sweet. I could taste the alcohol but found it perfect. Excellent!

12oz. bottle 2007 vintage. Deep nut brown with a small, fleeting head that leaves a small foam ring. Doughy and dried dark fruit aroma, with a big dose of alcohol. The flavor is fruity and sweet with some earthy tobacco and plenty of sharp alcohol. For its strength, its well done, but the alcohol dominates any other flavors. Thick body with small bubbles. An alright sipper, but a little too hot for me

2007 Version A- Pours a beautiful deep ruby hue with not too much of a head S- Lots of caramel, malty to the core, coffee undertones, have to admit the nose on this one makes me excited to taste it. T- masterfully balanced. Lots of raisins and figs all the way through, caramel underneath, hints of coffee towards the end. Alcohol pretty prevalent the whole way. M- Fairly thick, quite a bit of carbonation. D- The alcohol cramps the drinkability a bit but it definitely doesn’t feel too young to drink for me. I’ll have to seek out some vintages of this one and see what i’ve been missing.

2008 version. Pours a dark brown with light tan head. Aroma of sour apple. Very heavy feeling on the mouth. Not as smooth as I expected. I’ve had better Barley Wines.

raisiny aroma with a little bit of a boozy smell. There is also an acidity aroma, maybe grapefruit. There is a bit of a metallic flavor, but that is overcome by the yeasty flavor and a barleywine flavor.