Old Ruffian
Great Divide Brewing Co.

22 oz. bottle poured into a goblet.

Appearance - Almost ruby bodied, but a bit more brown. Very clear with a decent head. Not a lot of lacing once it recedes.

Smell - Wonderful smell, once it warms. Caramel malts and dark fruits. Maybe a hint of banana. Not much sweetness to the smell, just the flavors. A bit of earthiness from the hops.

Taste - Not as good as the smell. The dark fruits are hard to pick out, but the caramel is there. Still not as sweet as I'd expect, and I like it. The pine hop presence in the back lends to the earthy flavor detected in the smell. Nice, but doesn't live up to the smell.

Mouthfeel - Barleywines often turn into syrup by the end of the glass. This one steers away from the sweetness nicely and doesn't become too thick. The carbonation keeps it drinkable as it's high enough to combat the body of the beer.

Overall - A very nice barleywine. Lacks a bit of complexity, but it's delicious and well made.

2015 bottle at the Porter

A: opaque; watered down cola in color; just a skim cap of tan head that receded quickly to a razor thin collar; OK lacing;

S: sweet dried fruit - raisins, dates, prunes; as it warmed, the initial aroma was earthy, then it became sweet dried fruit;

T: follows the nose for a moment, then it's all prune to the finish; moderate, long-lasting bitterness at the end; as it warmed, it was balanced between raisins, dates, and prunes from stat to finish;

M: medium to full bodied; light to moderate carbonation; dry finish; there's a bit of an alcohol bite, but overall, it's quite smooth;

O: no date on the bottle, but Great Divide hasn't distributed in CT for 8-10 years, so it's at least that old;

 

Taken from notes-2019

Pours brown in color with a one-finger foamy off-white head that reduces to a ring. Smells of caramel, toffee, raisin, brown bread, fruit cake, faded piney and citrus hops. Tastes of malty caramel and fruit cake up front, followed by faded piney hops, raisins and figs. Finishes with caramel and faded hops. Medium body with moderate carbonation, foamy mouthfeel and slightly warming finish

 

 

1 pint 6 fl. oz. bottle, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 10.2%. Dark orange to brown colour, hazy. Big and lasting pale orange to beige head. The sweetish aroma has notes of pine, ripe fruits, raisins and molasses. Full and warming mouthfeel. Rich flavour with loads of malty sweetness, notes of raisins, caramel, molasses and udefined fruit, while the high IBU makes itself known towards the end, through a substantial and resinous hoppy bitterness.

 

 

Nov, '20 bottle aged since 1/28/16: Good nose of sweet dark fruit; Amber hue with tan head & good lace; medium mouthfeel w/ smooth effervescent carbonation; taste is bitter raisins and dank fig/date; dry quenching finish that retains bitter bark notes. For me, I would like to see a bit better balance with sweet to bitter, but my review reflects what the brewery says about their beer.

 

Barley wine bottle share on 1/31. Poured a crimson/ruby red w/ a thin soap like head. Aroma of hops, fairly astringent. The palate was smooth and slickly The flavor was bitter hops followed by sweet citrus and malts..Incredibly good and tasty.

 

 

Vintage 2016

I like most of their yeti imperial stout variants so let's see how their barley wine goes & hopefully the 90 IBU's have mellowed out . The pour is umber brown color into the snifter glass. On the taste i'm getting some hops but they have mellowed out somewhat, some dark cherry, black currant, malts, caramel, pine, & burnt sugar. It's a really good Barleywine & it leave a nice lacing around the glass but I still favor Yeti variants. cheers! A-

 

Pours dark amber to brown. 1/2 inch yellowish tan head. Thick lacing. Moderate carbonation.

Aroma of roasted & caramel malts, oak, molasses, toffee.

Tastes is sweet and bitter. Rye, oak, toffee, vanilla, molasses, dates, whiskey.

Full bodied, creamy mouthfeel, very rich.

One of the best barley wines I've had so far.

12oz bottle into perfect pint
Bottled on 1/29/15
Pours a dark brown with cream colored head
Aroma of sweet rich malt, candied hops
Taste follows real mellow, with the just the right amount of hops
Smooth creamy feel, no hint of the alcohol
Overall it aged really well, this was a superb barleywine

Chestnut brown with a modest head. Very pretty aroma, caramel covered malt with a hint of hops. Taste is salty bitter & very little of the sweetness promised by its aroma. Complex flavor, hoppy, pine, resin, raisin, malted barley, molasses & a strong pepper finish. Silky smooth & fairly thick, not much alcohol flavor but plenty of numbing effect. Fun to drink & delicious!