Youngs Old Nick

Formerly brewed at Wells & Youngs
Style: Barley Wine
Bedford, England

Serve in Snifter

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Bottle@tasting (2002), 500ml. Head: off-white. Colour: clear, amber. Aroma: fruit. Taste: malt, medium bitter-sweet. Palate: mouthwarming, medium bitter-sweet finish. Overall: nice.

old rating: Brown color with good head. Sweet aroma. Sweet and fruity flavor.

I have not seen this beer in ages, but I figured I’d review it from the notes I took the last time I had it. I had a bottle of this beer way back in 2004, so I’m not even sure if it is still in production. Either way, I enjoyed this rich brew very much. It was the perfect companion to the flickering firelight and a comfy chair on a cold January evening. The palate exploded with sumptuous, chewy malt, baker’s chocolate, caramelized sugar and a bananas foster taste on the front of the tongue and on the finish. A slight hop bitterness was noticed at the back of the tongue. It has a beautiful color of deep, warm ruby as a bonus. Overall, this beer was terrific and very, very comforting for a cold night. A+++

26-Feb-12 (500-ml bottle, Best by 12-Apr-06: Purchased for $2.99 at BevMo in Encinitas, CA)
Well, this is it, my final bottle of Old Nick, from before their merger with Wells. I’m very sad that it’s no longer in production because back in the 90’s, this was one of my favorite beers, and while it may have dropped a notch in my book since then, it’s still a really, really terrific beer. The beer pours a hazy, deep red-brown body and a creamy, tan cap that settles to a wide ring. The nose is incredibly fruity, with aromas of dried apricot, raisin, and fig, but it’s also very malty, offering caramel candy, toffee, buttered toast, and treacle. On the palate, it’s a very rich, full-bodied, almost chewy beer, and though it’s a fairly sweet beer, it’s a malty sweet rather than sugary sweet. The prominent caramely malt flavor is complemented by toffee, lightly browned toast with a spread of butter, dried fruits such as raisin, prune, fig, and apricot, treacle, and brown sugar. Sure, there is oxidation here, but as usual for many of the aged English barley wines, it just seems completely natural. Such a great beer, to me it’s a tragedy that it’s no longer in production. Three cheers for corporate mergers!

2007. This is a caramel color, old stuff, very well oxidized, light green apple aroma. Taste is lost in a muddled papery malt oxidation, sweet, but nutty and just kinda eh.

UPDATED: JUN 3, 2012 caramel, barnyard, banana, cooked vegetables, soy sauce, red, cloudy, minimal head, heavy cloying sweetness, medium bitterness, light body, creamy, astringent, fizzy,

UPDATED: MAR 6, 2012 Bottle. Hazy amber colour with a big head. Sweet fruity nose. Malty, fruity and acohol flavour. In a part of my life this was the worst thing ever that had happen to be inside my mouth.....

Bottle (apparently from the late 90s). Pours with a hazy ruby brown body. Aromas are a bit oxidized with notes of dark fruits, currants, dates, sherry, and caramel. Flavors are also a bit oxidized (sherry and light cardboard). Caramel, dark fruit and a bit vinous. Minimal carbonation, a bit sweet.

In London. Amber body with big head. Nose of malts, fruits, sweets. Taste is malty and quite high ABV. Spicy too. Syrupy texture. Bitter in the finish.

Würzig-alkoholischer Geruch. Stark malzig-herber Antrunk, die herbe weicht zum Mittelteil etwas, ein hopfig-süßer Ton bleibt. Dabei ist natürlich die Malzigkeit weiter im Vordergrund und wird im Nachgeschmack deutlich stärker. Unter dem vollmundigen Aroma ist eine süße Note zu erkennen, der getreidige Ton ist schon fast Nebensache. Test vom 26.6.2007, Gebinde: Glasflasche Noten: 10,10,10,12,9,10