Anchor Old Foghorn - Anchor Brewing Company

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BA SCORE
88
very good
-
1,336 Ratings

rAvg: 3.92
pDev: 11.22%
Reviews: 958
Hads: 378

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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 (16) | Events (0)

Reviews

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Reviews by blakesell:

blakesell

Ohio

3.9/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured from the 12oz bottle into my finest tasting glass (similar to the Sam Adams, also specifically made for tasting).

I believe the bottle is from 2008, and my bottle claims 9.4% ABV.

Appearance, Beer pours a red golden with a huge pillowy off tan head that lingers and clings to the sides of the glass thickly. Big bubbles and small bubbles intermingle making this beer look alive on the pour. The red gold color is more of a ruby when held to the light, this is one impressive looking barleywine.

Smell- Boozy alcohols, toffee, raisins, yes, figs, plums, prunes, pineapple, great fruity yeasty esters coming off of this. Hops are present but not near as overpowering as I usually get from American barleywines. This is a plus in my book.

Taste- Sweet malts with grapeskin texture, very smooth for an American. It is well known that I usually won't drink barleywines under 5 years of age, but in this case I made an exception as I had a hankering. I'm glad I did. This will age well, but it's great right now as well. The warming alcohol could stand to mellow, and I wonder if the 8.8% version is perhaps a bit smoother.

Mouthfeel- Warming, chewy, full bodied, sticky, medium high in carbonation.

Drinkability- Surprisingly drinkable for how warm it is. After being out in the cold elements earlier, this is just what I needed, just what I need with very little of what I don't.

Thanks Anchor! Thanchor.

Serving type: bottle

04-07-2009 00:19:50 | More by blakesell

More User Reviews:

ronin926

Illinois

3.5/5 rDev -10.7%

06-20-2013 04:39:36 | More by ronin926

Vigilante

Nevada

4/5 rDev +2%

06-16-2013 05:47:41 | More by Vigilante

anson42

California

3.75/5 rDev -4.3%

06-16-2013 03:50:59 | More by anson42

BillHilly

Washington

3.75/5 rDev -4.3%

06-15-2013 01:56:21 | More by BillHilly

megamass

New Jersey

4.25/5 rDev +8.4%

06-07-2013 05:08:39 | More by megamass

LJWalker

Alabama

3.25/5 rDev -17.1%

06-05-2013 14:23:06 | More by LJWalker

GRUUMSH

Belgium

3/5 rDev -23.5%

06-01-2013 14:49:57 | More by GRUUMSH

jibjib513

Ohio

4/5 rDev +2%

06-01-2013 12:04:22 | More by jibjib513

Plonk

Alabama

4/5 rDev +2%

05-29-2013 18:12:10 | More by Plonk

buzzed

Texas

4.25/5 rDev +8.4%

05-29-2013 16:25:53 | More by buzzed

Kingcurio

Oklahoma

4/5 rDev +2%

05-27-2013 23:43:08 | More by Kingcurio

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