North Coast Old Stock Ale

I am to the point where I almost hate barley wines but I have to rate this great because for a barley wine this is outstanding. Aroma was very strong and vinuous with hints of raisin and alcohol. Pour was a hazy dark brown with a nice 1 finger puffy head. Taste was like a carbonated wine. Thick and chewy with strong caramel and malt notes with a heavy alcohol burn but manageable on the palate. If I liked barley wines this would be in my top 3.

what a great beer. one of the best tasting barley wines i’ve had ever. i will be purchasing some more of this.

2007 Bottle. Pours a dark amber/red body with a one finger thick head with lots of bubbles in it that fades fast to a thin layer of foam. Aroma is huge of dark sweet dried fruits and some vanilla. Some hoppiness to cant say what cind though. Flavor has BIG notes of sweet dried fruits and caramell malts. Some warming and nice alcohol to. Little vanilla and hops. Palate is very varming. It varms my tummy like a bourbon and even domes my tounge.

Woody aroma with black cherry notes. Cloudy ochre color, with a medium light brown head. Syrupy mouthfeel, very sweet, evident alcohol content. Tastes of bourbon, hops, and cherry, in equal measure. Long lasting, but not strong bitter hop finish, with wood on the edges. Fairly well done, but not exactly something I like.

Bottle 2004. Hazy brown color, short head. Aroma of port wine, raisin, roasted malt. Delicious strong taste of port wine, sweet, caramel, slight alcohol burn, raisin, slight bitter. Delicious stuff.

2007 bottle. Pours a dark mahogany color with a creamy off-white head thats very thin and dissipates quickly. It looks a bit cloudy, but it’s a bit hard to tell with my cold mug beading up. Sweet malty, caramel, with a trace of alcohol heat, but not overly cloying to the palate. Quite enjoyable beer and one of my favorite styles.

2006 bottle. Poured a dark ruby red with very little head. The aroma is of sweet dark fruits, sweet malts, caramel, and a little alcohol. The taste is much the same with vanilla, caramel, very sweet malts, and some alcohol to warm things up. It is full bodied and has a nice vinous like quality to it. it is very smooth and very sweet with a lot of flavors converging at once. You definitely get the alcohol in the finish as it is quite high. The finish has some bitterness and is dry from some slight hops and of course the alcohol. The aftertaste is all alcohol and sweet fruits in this one. A really well done barley wine. Thanks to elmatador for this bottle.

bottle 2004 rated 07/28/07: pours dark brown with a thin tan head. aroma is fantastic deep dark fruits and fresh cherry. toffee caramel malts, and some vinous grape also. flavour is smooth of dark sugary fruits, toffee malts. aftertaste is bitter and drying. also chewy like thick bread with roasted grains.

bottle 05 rated 08/10/07: pors the same muddy brown as the 04 witha thin line as a head. aroma is very vinous and a bit more crisp than the 04 with raisins, figs, dark sugars, toffee and a little less cherry in the 05 than the 04. the aroma of old stock is superb. the palate is very lively with tsmall carbonation bubble tickling my palate. the flavour is deep and bready with dark sugars and fruits, toffee malts lingere in the finish. i seem to get a small amount of alcohol that was not in the 04. overall fantastic, not as good as the 04 though. i guess i will wait a year for another try at it.