Old Godfather - Speakeasy Ales & Lagers

IntriqKen

California

4.05/5  rDev +6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 2.5

April, 2006
Poured dark amber in a snifter with a small amber colored head that melted to a substantial lacing for the rest of the drink.
Aroma is unusually sweet with a citrus hop and very strong alcohol scents
Mouthfeel is full and syrupy coating on your tongue but very little carbonation.
Taste is strongly citrus/piney/grapefruit hops with sweet toasted malts and dark fruits, finishing back to citrus hops and then heavy alcohol.
Right now this still feels a little rough and unbalanced. I want to cellar a couple of bottles to revisit a year from now.
---
June 27th, 06 revisit.
As i suspected this has mellowed with age.
Alcohol is still VERY predominate in both the aroma and taste (less in taste than aroma) but overall it has mellowed and become much more balanced.
---
Revisited my last bottle Aug 1st, 2006.
It has already mellowed and balanced. I hope to find more to drink and keep.
Taste is no longer raw, but rather smoothed with a touch of brown sugar. Alcohol seems almost hidden now. Good job, Speakeasy.
Ok...I admit...I'm in love.
Just kicked TASTE to 4.5 based upon current tasting.

Serving type: bottle

04-13-2006 06:13:07 | More by IntriqKen

Crosling

Colorado

3.8/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On draught tonight @ Toranado in San Francisco, California. Dark burgundy in color with a small and diminishing light purple head. An aroma of honey, mild fruits (huge hints of grapes) and hops (the west coast piney, resinous, grapefruit ones....) Like mostly barley wines....I really can’t complain about the flavor. The malt backing is adequate, showing honey covered dark fruits and caramel and the hops are profound, oily and coating. A pretty tasty beer.

Serving type: on-tap

03-18-2006 02:51:37 | More by Crosling

DogFood11

California

4.38/5  rDev +14.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Copper, golden around the edges. Extremely aggressive pour is reccomended as this is stuborn but does produce a nice eggshell froth that has some oily sliding lace.

Tons of citrus hop presence. Its heavily grapefruit laden, malt presence is sweet and overmatched for the most part. Alcohol aroma is up front and personal. Barleywines are such a wide ranging style, this one is on the hoppy/fruit/citrus end of the scale. A fine offering from a kickass brewery.

10.2% abv, obviously it will pack a punch one way or another. Cool name and good idea to go with the speakeasy brand, easily identifiable and tasty.

Serving type: bottle

03-05-2006 00:58:53 | More by DogFood11

germaniac

California

4.05/5  rDev +6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

Old Godfather
2006
10.25% abv

I was never sure if the same one posted here on BA. The name was slightly different, the abv was lower, and all the reviews were on tap. But someone posted a bottle pic, and it's the same one that's been in my fridge for a week. That's good enough for me!

Poured into my Magnolia Strong Beer Month "balloon glass", this brew is a shiny red brown, clear for the most part, with a little bit of murkiness in it's depths.

A warm, boozy scent radiates, with notes of pineapple, of all things. A quick hop bitterness, and just the barest hint of malt to round things out.

A strong malty base thickens the hop bite of this brew. It's hoppy, but the hops get reined in just enough to avoid total bitterness overload. There are moments when the hops feel like they might take over, but that never fully happens. Instead, the malts and hops riff off each other pretty well. Really not much alcohol presence here in the taste. That's kind of worrisome- way to strong to be this drinkable. The 12oz. bottle I was "sipping" on disappeared pretty quickly after it warmed up a bit.

Maybe Old Godfather isn't the patriarch of West Coast Barleywines yet, but the next few years' editions have some interesting potential.

"Kiss the ring"

Serving type: bottle

02-25-2006 21:29:11 | More by germaniac

watermelonman

California

4.28/5  rDev +12%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

This arrived as a very dark brown with hints of red. The head was very thin but left a fair amount of lace.

The smell is strong, full of hops and sweet malt. The taste adds alcohol up front along with tons of malt, and the finish is bitter. Alcohol starts to come through as well. The mouthfeel is a little light, while drinkability is high.

Serving type: on-tap

01-03-2006 04:14:51 | More by watermelonman

GClarkage

California

4.58/5  rDev +19.9%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

12/23/04- Had on tap at the Toronado in San Francisco, CA

Presentation- Poured into a tulip glass.

Appearance- Smallish head, moderate lacing and a nice deep brownish color.

Smell- Sugary bitter hops. Almost candyish. An amazing scent.

Taste- Wow, my first real hoppy barleywine. This is great. The bitter fruity taste of an IPA with the sweet thick taste of a barleywine.

Mouthfeel- Low carbonated and heavy mouthfeel.

Drinkability- You can detect the alcohol towards the end, otherwise this would be extrememly dangerous. Great beer!

Serving type: on-tap

12-24-2004 05:05:25 | More by GClarkage

donnebaby

North Carolina

3.85/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

A tight normal head of light tan color adorns a thinly dark brown body. Nose was bitter, with nothing else jumping out at me at the time. Taste is brutal bitter hoppage, puncturing. Huge fresh mint leaf and fresh hop leaf taste structure. Something vegetal, that is burned away by the hops. An excellent and somehow light and refreshing overall feel, despite hop grating and ABV.

Had this from a keg at the 21st Amendment Brewpub Holiday Beerschool, at which it was called simply "Old Godfather", with a 10% ABV.

Serving type: on-tap

12-13-2004 03:26:08 | More by donnebaby

frank4sail

New Jersey

4/5  rDev +4.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Had this at Monk's Cafe' on Tap 2-8-03. It has a deep red color with a substantial white head and sheen esp. for a barleywine (abv). Deep colored attractive brew. Rich malty sweet floral hop nose.. almost too much hops. Smooth medium mouth for a barleywine (maybe a little light). Taste is one of huge hop bitterness. The crazy bitterness mellows into a flowery bitter citrus (orange peel) flavor. The finish is very bitter to the tongue. The brew could be more balenced on the malt backbone.. but overall a good brew. Note: this brew is not for you at all unless you are a hophead, the bitterness is not for everyone.

Serving type: on-tap

02-18-2003 08:43:32 | More by frank4sail