Southampton Old Herb

Brewed by Southampton Publick House
Style: Barley Wine
Southampton, New York USA

2004 bottle# 445. Cellar temp Rich amber color with a small fleeting head. Laces the glass nicely as it’s swirled. Intoxicating carmel aroma with maybe some pie crust too. Smooth sweetness tempered by a dry bitter finish. Not overly heavy palate which hides all traces of alcohol. This should be even better in a few years.

This beer was received thanks to winning the Scavenger Hunt contest and comes to me thanks to Austinpowers. Bottle 427 of 500 2004 batch. This beer pours an orange cloudy color with many shades of lighter and darker colors. Thin but creamy white head which left a small degree of lacing on my glass. The aroma is caramel, brown sugar, vanilla, and slight warming alcohol. The flavor is full bodied with caramel pine in the finish. Brown shugga style beer with a sweet caramel backbone and a bitter heavily carbonated finish. Long lasting wet finish, full bodied and sticky! I’d be scared to see how well this would be when aged, but I just had to try it! Outstanding!

Orange gold color. Small sized head. Aroma is caramel, vanilla, brown sugar and alcohol. A medium to full bodied barley wine. Malts are intensely caramel and fruit. Hops are slightly grapefruity. Oranges and brown sugar. Extremely smooth tasting. Nice balance. Alcohol is very noticeable, aside from that this is a nice subtle complex barley wine. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finis is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter. Thanks for sharing this one Sean...

2003: Poured ruby orange with thin tan head...zach8270, DocLock, JeffC666 all were correct in the aroma...brandy, sausage, wet dog; respectively...hops, and light sweet malts too...taste is rich and creamy for a BW...bitterness up front, then pepper and alcohol, moving to a lightly fruity and alcohol finish...definately one of the more interesting BWs...

[12 oz. bottle - 2004 vintage: Bottle # 465/500] Cloudy orange color with a nice, frothy tan head. Lots of malt in the aroma with hints of hops, caramel, brandy, alcohol, cherries and pears. The flavor is very rich and malty with hints of dark fruits, some citrus and has a slight peppery bite at the end. Very creamy mouthfeel, a bit harsh at the front of the mouth, but very warming.

This one is way underrated...then again, I can’t speak for the aging process. I drank bottle #25 of 500 of the 2004 vintage (top 5%!!!). Pours turbid copper with a huge, off-white, creamy head. Aroma of malt, hops, citrus, dark fruit, cabernet, spice, slight sausage. Tastes malty, sweet, with hops, citrus, apples, pears, berries, bubblegum, candy, slight sauerkraut, and hot dogs. Mid to heavy, full, firm, bold palate. Overall, this is an excellent beer, and well worth finding. Half Time still has two bottles left of the 2004. With all due respect, the Jersey guys (or anyone else) rating this under a 2.0 should be tarred and feathered, and then given remedial beer rating training.

2004 Bottle # 426/500 Murky orange-ruby topped by a rocky tan head. Above average glass lacing. The aroma is very malty: spicy, sweet, bread, and a wee bit of wet dog (not over-powering and not offensive). Definite bit of citrus hops in there also. The flavor is much like the aroma, though a bit harsh, some age would do this one good. Medium-full body. Thanks to eyedrinkale.

2004. Bottle 448. A solid offering which could have used another year or two in the cellar, but I decided to pop it open for the fourth. A nice mouthfeel, moderate carbonation, and a good alcohol presence on the finish. The malts give a toasted, toffee flavor and the is definitely a good touch of hop bitterness to counterbalance the sweet. Thanks austinpowers!