Speakeasy Brewer’s Reserve Old Godfather Barleywine

	Score
96		81
	OVERALL	Style

Brewed by Speakeasy Ales and Lagers
Style: Barley Wine
San Francisco, California USA

Serve in Snifter

bottling
unknown

on tap
available

Local Distribution

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RATINGS: 33 MEAN: 3.78/5.0 WEIGHTED AVG: 3.62 SEASONAL: Special EST. CALORIES: 399 ABV: 13.3%

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COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION
This year, we are proud to announce our first release of Brewer’s Reserve Old Godfather Barley Wine. This special release is a blend of three batches that we brewed to higher-than-normal gravities resulting in a beer of almost 13.8% abv (with all the blending our math gets a little fuzzy). Each of the beers was treated a bit differently. We added extra sugars to the first batch during fermentation, and boosted the alcohol to 14.6%. Then we put half of that batch into some rye and bourbon barrels that we stuffed with hops. The second batch wasn’t as perky and only finished at 13.5%, but it has been enjoying its four months of aging in Stainless Steel. The third batch we just brewed a month ago and required quite a bit of poking and prodding to finish at 13.3%. Each batch brings a little something different with it, and together we think they are an awesome beverage of class and sophistication.

Most Recent Top Raters Highest Score My Friends Rated By

most recent ratings

4.1

AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20

popery (1119) - San Francisco, California, USA - DEC 8, 2009

Tap at City Beer Store, San Francisco. I wandered into CBS earlier and found myself in the middle of Speakeasy’s release party for their new line of bombers. This excellent barleywine was on tap. It pours a dusky, reddish brown with a small off-white head. The aroma was caramel malt, sherry, apricots, booze and raisins. The flavor was relatively dry for the abv and style, although I still call it fairly sweet in a more general sense. At any rate, I was expecting a sticky mess and was happily surprised. There was some booze but better than expected. I’m sure production costs are a tad higher than Old Godfather, but I’d love to see them bottle this beer. It’s a treat, and I’m sure that it would just get better with age. While the rest of their lineup isn’t bad by any means, this is the first beer from Speakeasy to really impress me.

3.9

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 16/20

Snojerk321 (2970) - San Diego, California, USA - DEC 8, 2009

Tap @ Pizza Port Strong Ale Fest 2009. Pours a deep cola brown with a small beige ring. Nose is quite sweet with candied apricots, pears and a good amount of caramel, toffee and booze. Very heavy and full on the palate, tons of caramel and booze.

4.2

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 18/20

wetherel (1836) - Encinitas, California, USA - DEC 6, 2009

On tap at PP Strong Ale Festiva 2009. Listed as 13.7%. Amber color. Reminds me of Double Bastard. Deliciously hoppy and malty. Very good.

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Speakeasy Brewer’s Reserve Old Godfather Barleywine

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