Anchor Old Foghorn - Anchor Brewing Company

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88
good
-
1,325 Ratings

rAvg: 3.92
pDev: 11.22%
Reviews: 958
Hads: 367

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Brewed by:
Anchor Brewing Company

California, United States

Style | ABV
English Barleywine | 8.20% ABV

Availability: Year-round. bottle (883), on-tap (74), nitro-tap (1).

Notes:
ABV varies slightly over the years.

View: Beers (15) | Events (0)

Reviews

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Reviews by ThisWangsChung:

ThisWangsChung

Maryland

3.88/5 rDev -1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 oz bottle poured into a tulip. From notes.

A: Pours a dark burgundy color with excellent clarity in spite of its darker shade. The head is a two finger light cream color before settling down into a thin, nicely textured layer. Little lacing is left on the glass.

S: Malty. Strong dark fruits, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, booze, and even a little cola. Pretty typical, but quite good.

T: This is a textbook 'dark fruit' beer, as you can really taste the figs, raisins, plums, and black currants in this throughout, while the general malt base pops up a little more strongly on the finish. A bit sweet, but it's kept in check very well. Earthy, (very) faintly citric hops provide another layer of flavor, but no bitterness. This is almost like drinking liquid rum raisin bread, and that is a compliment. It's rather small for a barleywine, perhaps even a bit simple at times, but its impeccable balance helps set it apart from others in the style.

M: Very silky smooth, with a nice, moderately thick body. The finish is almost neutral between wet and dry, perhaps erring slightly toward dryness. Not a whole lot of lingering flavor here, and not particularly boozy feeling. Carbonation is light to medium.

O: A nice no-frills barleywine that favors drinkability and approachability over extreme boldness and shouty expressiveness. It doesn't rewrite the book, nor does it try to rewrite the book. An excellent choice for someone who's never had a barleywine before, and its drinkable nature makes it one of the few barleywines that I could have multiple servings of.

Serving type: bottle

08-01-2012 20:33:25 | More by ThisWangsChung

More User Reviews:

moistnugget

Florida

4/5 rDev +2%

05-26-2013 03:24:43 | More by moistnugget

mikeincharleston

South Carolina

4.25/5 rDev +8.4%

05-22-2013 01:11:48 | More by mikeincharleston

buckyp

South Carolina

4/5 rDev +2%

05-20-2013 01:45:09 | More by buckyp

Slatetank

Pennsylvania

4.25/5 rDev +8.4%

05-16-2013 21:58:04 | More by Slatetank

flyingpig

United Kingdom (Scotland)

3.94/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Deep amber to light brown colour with a clear body and a light brown, bubbly lacing on top for a head that ends up as more of a touch of foam around the edges.

Very hoppy initially with a lot more coming through than I expected despite the fact I knew before hand that the beer is dry hopped after fermentation. Strong and fruity aroma that is full of caramel malts, sugar, toffee and darker fruits. There is a touch of alcohol but not as much as I would have expected from the abv. on the bottle and there was some butterscotch and a touch of spice to round things off with.

Strong alcohol and sweet malt taste kicks things off along with some background caramel and some brown sugar. There is a lot of hops plus some prunes, figs berries and dates as well as some lighter fruit such as apricot and apple.

Sweet and with quite a bit of sugar, there is a lot of alcohol in the the beer that the smell only hinted at and the carbonation levels are low. The beer is full bodied and quite smooth with a spicy, warming finish.

Massive alcohol content, the beer was very complex in both smell and taste with plenty of sweet malts and fruits featuring. A lot more hoppy than I'd expected which was a big surprise and a most welcome one. One I'll look to pick up again I think.

Serving type: bottle

05-14-2013 15:28:57 | More by flyingpig

bconsidine

Maryland

3.75/5 rDev -4.3%

05-10-2013 18:34:14 | More by bconsidine

AnnArborJoe

Michigan

3/5 rDev -23.5%

05-10-2013 17:07:10 | More by AnnArborJoe

dalepryor

Kentucky

4/5 rDev +2%

05-07-2013 22:05:36 | More by dalepryor

JoshBrews

Missouri

4.75/5 rDev +21.2%

05-07-2013 15:47:22 | More by JoshBrews

smithj4

New York

3.75/5 rDev -4.3%

05-03-2013 00:04:58 | More by smithj4

Lazy_Genius

Florida

4.5/5 rDev +14.8%

05-02-2013 18:12:50 | More by Lazy_Genius

buzzy

Pennsylvania

4.25/5 rDev +8.4%

04-29-2013 01:29:44 | More by buzzy

liquorpig

Massachusetts

4.5/5 rDev +14.8%

04-27-2013 02:16:01 | More by liquorpig

blackdavid

Brazil

4.5/5 rDev +14.8%

04-23-2013 19:29:50 | More by blackdavid

BB1313

Ohio

3.61/5 rDev -7.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

12oz bottle poured into a snifter. Pours amber with an off-white head that fades quick; some floaties/sediment; not too much lacing but nice looking barleywine. The aromas are very solid. Lots of raisins, fig, chocolate, hops. There are hints of orange peel as well. Although this is true to what everyone expect from an English barleywine, it has a nice little hop kick to it. Bittersweet. There's a touch of alcohol flavor, but it's not boozy at all. Mouthfeel has active carbonation and is almost thin, but it has enough body to make it a smooth experience. This really does make a great sipper.

I'm glad I revisited this one, it's been awhile. Old Foghorn brought the style back in the 70s, and it still holds up with the many options on shelves today. This will age amazingly.

Serving type: bottle

04-21-2013 00:23:45 | More by BB1313