Dogfish Head Olde School Barleywine

[Katefan00]

12oz., bottle-conditioned barleywine ale.

At 15% ABV, Dogfish Head claims that it is the highest ABV barleywine available commercially. According to DH, it was inspired by a tale of a "cask doctor" who brought sluggish ales back to life by suspending a fig in them.

Brewed from 100% Maris Otter pale ale malt, a blend of fine hops and conditioned on dates and figs.

"User Instructions: open bottle, pour contents into two snifters. Enjoy. ALTERNATIVELY: Walk hand-in-neck with bottle into the middle of the woods. Use shovel to dig 2x2 hole three feet deep. Seal bottle in plastic bag. Place in hole and pack with dirt. Memorize location and leave. Return exactly one year later. Dig up bottle, open and enjoy."

Whew!

Bottle pours a beautiful gold-amber, almost apricot color, with fruit and hop aromas very evident -- apricot and vanilla aroma, also alcohol vapors. Pours a nice, inch-thick white head that dissipates quickly. Carbonation is very low, moderate hazing, overall pretty clear.

The beer hits like a jackhammer on your palate at first -- citrus fruit taste, vanilla and honey, raisins, sweet malt, hops back with a bittersweet aftertaste. Sweetness and hops are more prominent as you go -- almost cloying, but then this is a barleywine. Oak? Medium body, a bit syrupy, slick mouthfeel.

It has a very warming alcohol bite, but nowhere near what I would've expected from a 15%! They did a good job hiding the alcohol, though it is vinous, no escaping that ABV. It has almost a whiskey taste/burn -- though you can feel the alcohol tingle more than you can taste it.

It took me a while to warm up to this beer, as heavy as it hit when I first began drinking it. But it has grown on me.

This is definitely one for a winter night -- snow is on the ground here now and I enjoyed it. 20 minutes into my tasting, with only about 1/3 of the glass downed, I could already feel the buzz. Took me a good 50 minutes to finish it. Surprisingly smooth!

Bottle says: "This one ages with the best of 'em."

K.

[davesarman]

I have a 750 ml bottle of this aging in my cellar. Sounds like I better have nothing to do the next day or have some help when I finally decide to pop the cork on this bad boy!

[Katefan00]

I would say so!

[steveh]

Is this current vintage?

S.

[matth76]

Nice review! I haven't seen this around here yet. I would certainly like to get my hands on it and give it a shot the next time it drops to single digits around here.

Davesarman - How much $ for that 750ml if you don't mind me asking?

[chazwicke]

I've got one in my fridge. I was waiting to open it until another enthusiast was over so I could share it. It, like the 120, must have to grow on you. I'll admit the 120 was was way too sweet at first but as I got into it over the course of an hour, It got much better. Totally different than what I had expected. I'll pour the Old School barleywine when I can share it. Safer that way.

[BluesHarp]

I found it to have a very unique hop flavor...kind of earthy and woody; definitely not the usual citrus/pine most brewers are using.

[davesarman]

Originally posted by matth76
Davesarman - How much $ for that 750ml if you don't mind me asking?

I acquired it in a trade last year, as part of a multi-bottle swap, so I can't tell you how much it cost...I think it was from a trade with Hopjack, maybe he can tell you how much it costs?

[threecb]

I have an '03 aging. I had one when it was released and wasn't crazy about it. It was that same sweetness that was a bit much. I'm hoping aging helped it.

[sallad]

i don't think they made the 750ml over the last few years. i remember paying about maybe $12 each for a couple of them a few years ago. but the last two or three vintages i've only seen in 12oz bottles. i've got several from last year and some from this year in my cellar, waiting.... :)

[fretlessman71]

At 15% ABV, isn't 12 oz. enough? YIIIIIKES! :D That's like 3 beers at once, and 750ml is more like SIX. A bottle that big would kick my lightweight a** before the beer left in the bottle got down to the top of the label!

[Katefan00]

Steve -- yeah, it's current. So I'm sure it would benefit from some aging. But I don't really have a place to cellar beers, so down the hatch it went!

K.

(PS, the 12oz. cost me $10 as a single. Ouch.)

[fretlessman71]

TEN SMACKERS FOR A SINGLE?!?!?!??!? Holy simoleans! I can get one here for $4.49! :eek:

Guess I'm just going to have to get a few and put them aside for a little while, eh? Maybe for next year's big storms...

[Katefan00]

Yep. It hurt me to shell out that much for a single. But, everything's more expensive in DC!

K.

[fretlessman71]

Yeah, but they're LOCAL as well - you could have saved money by driving to the brewery and getting one there! There's expensive, and then there's highway robbery...

[matth76]

Originally posted by fretlessman71
TEN SMACKERS FOR A SINGLE?!?!?!??!? Holy simoleans! I can get one here for $4.49!

Guess I'm just going to have to get a few and put them aside for a little while, eh? Maybe for next year's big storms...

Or....you could snatch a few and trade them off to your fellow board members. [cough] [cough] :D

[Katefan00]

I guess, three hours round trip is not a horrible drive -- but I hardly have that kind of extra time on the weekends, and never on the weeknights.

K.

[fretlessman71]

Do they deliver? ;)

[Bruno_78]

Originally posted by Katefan00
I guess, three hours round trip is not a horrible drive -- but I hardly have that kind of extra time on the weekends, and never on the weeknights.

K.

If I lived three hours from dogfish head, I don't think I could resist making the trip.

I can already hear Chaz, "If I only lived an hour and a half from Three Floyds......."

[chazwicke]

You said it! FFF! I was actually parked in front of Dogfish last Monday. Wife and I were pondering whether to have lunch there or Dicks Crab House. Dicks won. Wifey wanted some chowder or crab soup. I'm frequently in Rehobeth because it is not far from my beach place in OC. So I stop in fairly often. I have to say that Dogfish gets plenty of notoriety but It is not in my top ten breweries. They make very good beers......some of them. I like the Shelter, 60 & 90. And a few of their weirder ones but some of the stuff they make is a little too much for me. They sometimes push the envelope a little too far for my tastes. I give them credit for being innovative.

[Bruno_78]

I'll trade locations with you, I'll take the beach house, and you can come to South Bend and root for the Irish!

Fair trade, I say!

[BluesHarp]

Olde School prices?
Last year I paid $14.99 for a 750; and just last week, $11.99 for a four pack of 12 ouncers.

[newportstorm]

$10+ is simply a retailer raping & pillaging. If DFH can ship the beer to the midwest, northeast, or further and keep the price at $5 for a single, it should not double in price less than a few hours from the source - no matter how pricey and chic the city.

Distributors often make pricing mistakes (intentional?) which the retailer doesn't realize and simply passes this cost along to the customer. Ask the retailer for his cost and let them know what pricing is like elsewhere. I've done it with several beers - and saved myself $6 on a 750 of Chaotic Chemistry in the process.

Cheers!

[fretlessman71]

"Chaotic Chemistry?" I'm guessing either Magic Hat or Middle Ages... off to check and see if I was right... :)

[fretlessman71]

...yep, good guess, eh? :) All of the Magic Hat brews look very interesting - wish they were distributed out here...

[Bruno_78]

I went to the magic hat brewery in Burlington, VT last year. If you're ever in that area, you MUST visit this place. I dont' think their brews are distributed outside of the new england area. Which is cool, because I'll be in Boston all next week and probably get to taste some of their winter brews.

[threecb]

Magic Hat makes it to the Mid-Atlantic, too. They have some very interesting seasonals. I do wish they came with an answer key to figure out what style they are, though!

[fretlessman71]

Their website is every bit as engimatic, IIRC...

[chazwicke]

Originally posted by threecb
Magic Hat makes it to the Mid-Atlantic, too. They have some very interesting seasonals. I do wish they came with an answer key to figure out what style they are, though!

Yep we can get them in the DC area.

[Katefan00]

Yup. Brickskeller had Magic Hat #9 on tap upstairs two weeks ago.

[fretlessman71]

Isn't #9 an amber ale of sorts? I thought someone had compared it to 90 Shilling...

[Katefan00]

Their bottle label calls it a "not quite Pale Ale." I have never taken tasting notes, but what I remember of it when I was at the Brick was that it was quite hoppy, fruity -- and good.

From the Website:

An ale whose mysterious and unusual palate will swirl across your tongue and ask more questions than it answers.

A beer brewed clandestinely and given a name whose meaning is never revealed. Why #9? Why, indeed.

A sort of dry, crisp, fruity, refreshing, not-quite pale ale. #9 is really impossible to describe because there's never been anything else quite like it.

Yeast: English Ale
Malts: Pale and Crystal
Hops: Tettnang, and Warrior
Alcohol by Volume: 4.67%
Original Gravity: 1.047
Bitterness Units: 18
SRM: 9.0

K.

[fretlessman71]

Someday, when I'm organized and not replacing every little thing on every bass I own, I'll get a trade going with some of you folks on the eastern seaboard, and I'll try to make this one of the brews I get. It DOES sound a lot like the 90... hard to classify, harder to put your pint down! :)

[chazwicke]

I'll vouch for the 90 Shilling. I think is a superb beer from my limited exposure. I wish we could get it here.

[fretlessman71]

Boy, if I wasn't spending the morning shopping for bass parts and spending all this money, I'd go out and buy a bunch of beer to trade! Yikes.... :)

I have a different endeavor upcoming, however... I'm going to kind of do what kovan did, except I'm going to be comparing different beers in the same STYLE. I'm collecting porters right now, and as soon as I have a good mix of local, national, and international contestants, I'll begin with one a night. Ought to be fun!