Excelsior! Old Habit
Ithaca Beer Co. in Ithaca, New York, United States 🇺🇸
Barley Wine - Barley Regular|
Score
7.25
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Bitterbill (4335) reviewed Excelsior! Old Habit from Ithaca Beer Co. 8 years ago
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9
From Aug 2008
I got this bottle in a trade with nutbrown. Thanks Alan!
It pours a murky dark brown with a tiny amount of foam...by the time I set the glass down, there was only a ring around the glass and a tiny bit of lacing.
The smell has notes of fruit, chocolate, and oak. Very nice nose.
The taste is well, very tasty. I'm getting some fruity tones with cherries being number 1, some good chocolate, vanilla, and a very nice rye *and* nice oaky/bourbon overtone that seem to blend very well with the other flavours. Nice! Nice medium mouthfeel here and the carbonation is lightly done. Also, the alcohol is very nicely hidden and doesn't hurt the drinkability much for me at all.
The more I sip, the more I notice how complex this brew is...I guess that's because it's warming up since I opened it after I took it straight out of the fridge. ;^)
Man, what a great sipping brew this is...and yet another very impressive offering from the gang at Ithaca. If this is available locally to you, *Please* don't let the price tag scare you away($16.95 for the 750ml)...imnsho, it is worth every penny and was a super inclusion in this trade. Thanks again muchly, Alan!!
CLW (16720) reviewed Excelsior! Old Habit from Ithaca Beer Co. 11 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
22 oz. bottle. Batch E 045. With ABV of 9 %. Purchased at One Stop Market. Dark brown/ Black color, thin fast vanishing head. Nose is large oak with hints of whiskey, light dark fruit.
Flavor is mostly the same. Medium body with a soft carbonation. Starts with light rye with earthy malt and hints of tannins oak. Lightly vinous with red grapes. Is this infected? Lightly sour oak that lingers for awhile. I get mostly oak, dark fruit and red grape notes. Where is the whiskey? Because I only get oak. Not bad, still drinkable but not nearly what I had hoped for.
Lubiere (24390) reviewed Excelsior! Old Habit from Ithaca Beer Co. 14 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
A hazed dark reddish brown ale with a thin white head, gusher . In aroma, sweet caramel malt with light grassy hops, light mineral notes, light ground cherry, pleasant. In mouth, a nice sweet caramel malt with light resinous floral hops, light treacle, alcohol warmth, herbaceous character, pleasant. Bottle is more than 7 years old.
cheap (9479) reviewed Excelsior! Old Habit from Ithaca Beer Co. 14 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 3 | Texture - 2 | Overall - 3
Had this at the RB Pgh Tasting, lthy’s place, 5/21/11. Big thanks to MrChopin for this brew. This bottle was batch 017. Big thick pour once we got this foaming bomb to stop erupting & spilling over. The taste and palate is enormous thick chewy cloying something. The aroma is also cloyingly sweet. Thick and quite alky taste continues. Rude, nasty barley wine taste impression. Even tho a few of us here said it was infected, its difficult for my to differentiate this from other barley wines. No CO2. Does have a somewhat rude hint of sourness on the backend, I guess this attribute is what others are identifying as infected. Yes, a pretty interesting brew, and that mildly tart finish makes it unique among BWs. Thanks Kevin for the opportunity to have this beer, otherwise I probably never would have had this in a lifetime!
nimbleprop (16618) reviewed Excelsior! Old Habit from Ithaca Beer Co. 14 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
750ml bottle pours a caramel brown with some cloudy, brown head. Smells infected. Nose is tart, sweet, estery, candy sugar. Flavor is sweet, apples, raisins, caramel, crystal malts. Finish is full bodied and sweet.
jtclockwork (20071) reviewed Excelsior! Old Habit from Ithaca Beer Co. 14 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Bottle shared at Dmac’s. Pours black with tan head. Nose of funky sour apple, barrel and funk. Taste of funky sour apple skins, rye, wood, caramel, funk and toffee. Clearly infected, though still consumable as a sour.
jake65 (5824) reviewed Excelsior! Old Habit from Ithaca Beer Co. 14 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 3 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5
Placeholder rating: Bottle from Ditmier - thanks Eric! Made the mistake of opening this at the island before a nasty gushing mess shot forth all over the floor, counter, and sink. Fun. Dark auburn color with a nice, creamy khaki head. Nose is malt forward with ample bourbon barrel notes. It has the dry, acidic, sour scent... Son of a bitch. Can’t get much past the acetaldehyde... what malty and soft bourbon notes I can pick up are really jammed by the infection. Finish just brutally sour and plastic-filled. A tragedy. Did a quick search on other cases of infection, but to no avail. I’d love to revisit and properly rate this... so, ISO.
smith4498 (4269) reviewed Excelsior! Old Habit from Ithaca Beer Co. 15 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Bottle from a trade with tgncc. Pours dark reddish brown color with tan head. Aromas of rye, vanilla and wood. Moderately sweet toffee flavor with some rye spiciness, vanilla, oak. Earthy and slightly vinous. Medium to ful body with soft carbonation. Thanks Tom.
popery (1999) reviewed Excelsior! Old Habit from Ithaca Beer Co. 15 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Really interesting beer. A rye barleywine aged in rye barrels and it tastes like it. Lots of rye spice and malt depth. Tends more toward darker malts than most barleywines. Good fruity malt flavors. Wonderfully warming finish. Refined whiskey flavor. A really good beer that actually brings something new to the table, unlike so many.
Pinball (15843) reviewed Excelsior! Old Habit from Ithaca Beer Co. 15 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
dark hazy brown, floaties, smooth ligt brown head. aroma is bretty, roasted grains. flavor is strong. licorice, sweet malty, bitter. a bit too much, but i must admit pretty well balanced..