Mike Loves Beer

Name - Dogfish Head Olde School Barleywine
Country - United States
Type - American Barley Wine

Appearance - Poured a reddish copper color with really no head at all.

Smell - Sweet smell of grapefruit and slight smell of alcohol that stung the nostrils a bit.

Taste - Lots of sweet malts.  The feel is very syrupy and you get hints of molasses in there.  There is a little alcohol bit near the end.

This is only my second barley wine that I have sampled so I feel I don’t know a whole lot about these.  This one was a lot heavier than the last one I had but the alcohol taste was covered up a little better.  I would put this just slightly higher than the last one I had.

Overall Grade – B

Name - Avery Hog Heaven Barley Wine
Country - United States
Type - American Barley Wine

Appearance - A clear copper color with a big frothy, white head.

Smell - Very big hoppy and sweet malt smell.

Taste - A sweet malty taste at first turns to a big hoppy hit on your taste buds.  Plus you do taste the alcohol in this one.

I’ve heard so much about barley wines from other people that I felt like I had to try it.  I really had no idea what I was in for.  This one was strong, I mean real strong.  It’s 9.2% ABV will hit you hard if you aren’t expecting it.  This is also a slow drinker.  You want to take your time with this or you might end up to drunk early or maybe even sick.  I look forward to trying an actual Belgian one at some point but this wasn’t bad.

Overall Grade – B-