North Coast Old Stock Ale

dark ruby/brown with a sall whit head. sweet malt and alcohol in the nose. flavor was malty and sweet with an alcohol warmth and a nice touch of bitterness. mouthfeel was medium to full.

2006 bottle consumed 2/08. Dark amber body, white head, sweet malty nose. Very sweet, brown sugar, maybe slightly fruity, syrupy body. Not very impressive.

Bottle with 2007 on the neck. I was expecting an alt ale. But, one sip to dispelled that thought rather quickly. Very hoppy and loads of malt and alcohol. Poured with a tall head of loose large foam. Very heavy body, almost syrupy. Finishes a bit long.

Bottle (2007 vintage): pours a cloudy burnt orange with a thin lacing of head around the edge of the glass, aroma of sweet dark fruits, taste is a tad bitter with a burnt sugar type flavor, finish is smooth with just a slight warming in the throat. Pretty good. I have three more of these that I am going to try to age.

I recently drank a 2002 and 2006 Old Stock side by side (in Jan. ’08). The difference is remarkable. I suppose I should be rating the ’06, since that’s closer to what people will be drinking straight out of the stores, but I can’t bare to rate such an inferior product. While there were many similarities (I’m not sure if the recipe has remained unaltered or not, but they certainly taste as if they were at least similar recipes), and the ’06 tasted like something that could some day develop into the ’02, the various flavors of the ’06 are so much more rough and aggressive, while the ’02 has allowed them to mellow and intermingle, resulting in a much rounder, more subtle combination of flavors. I cannot recommend aging this beer enough. I still have a bottle of the ’02 and the ’06, and plan and trying them with the ’08 in ’10.

Nose of thick malts. STRONG alcohol finish, almost like the end of a sip of whiskey. But overall flavor is of caramel malts, hop bitterness, and some dried fruit tones. Low carbonation. If not for the alcohol, this gets a higher score.

Bottle at HogTownHarry Fest 08. Again big thanks to Harry for this one. Syrupy dry malt aroma. I guess its a barley wine, with some soy sauce in the mouth. Nice US hops on there.

Pours dark copper with quickly disappearing head. Aroma of scotch, sweet plum, port, caramel malt, cherry. Flavor contains a really nice caramel malt backbone melded with notes of cherry, raisin, and some vinous notes. Some slight smokiness is really nice in the flavor. This is a pretty sweet barleywine, but it’s not nearly as sweet as some others that I’ve had (a couple from Dogfish head come to mind). Moderately thick, sticky palate.