Old Blarney Barleywine

650 ml bottle, Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 10%. Beautiful reddish brown colour, large off-white head. Aroma of malts, caramel, some mild roasty notes. The flavour is also malty with caramel and more distinct roasty notes, hints of sherry, also fairly distinct resinous hops. Bitter finish and aftertaste. Should not be drunk too cold.

Fra flaske på Mi2 Cardinal, aug-16: kveldens nest siste, og stemningen er som vanlig på topp når seremonimester Melberg er i ferd med å avslutte programmet. Uklar brunlig ravfarge med ok offwhite skum. Urtepreget aroma med mørk kandis, karamell og noe vinøst. Delikat og balanserende bitterhet. Sherrypreg med alkoburn i avslutningen. Noterte 3 stjerner i margen.

Grunt fill from Albertsons. Initially thought it may have gone flat, but it’s a mild pour with a fairly heavy weight. Mahogany pour with a ring if beige head. Malt and molasses on the aroma, taste also is malt forward. A bit of a tang on the tail end, finishes sweet. Doesn’t seem overly boozy.

As Moylan’s Old Blarney Barleywine Style Ale, bomber bought at De Caigny. Creamy, rather thick and dense, regular, lightly lacing, pale yellowish beige head over a truly beautiful coppery vermillion red, clear beer with fierce fizz rising up through the glass, sustaining the head. Rich and sweet aroma of toffee, biscuit, dried fig, gingerbread, brown rum, bitter honey, apricot, candied orange, cookies, dried ginger powder, strawberry liqueur, candied cherry, dry earth, hints of walnut shells, fried egg, grapefruit peel, brandy, hazelnut oil, amaro, raw beetroot, dried banana. Sweetish onset, lots of dried fruit, candied orange and yellow raisin with a basic, underlying sourish balance and some faint cured meat-like umami somewhere, bittering flavors already apparent in an early stage, spritzy carbo, supple oily body, slick and a bit resinous but perhaps somewhat less vinous than expected from the style, still full and creamy though, with a notably caramelly and very nutty malt middle quickly turning toasted bitter, a bitterness further reinforced with a firm dosis of hoppiness, spicy and peppery in character with subdued grapefruity notes retronasally. This hop bitterness is long-stretched and a tad tonic water-like in the end, blending in well with the bittersweet maltiness which goes down the throat smoothly. Rum-like alcohol heat is undeniable, balancing on the brink of astringency and making the ending perhaps a tad more wry than it could and should have been, a bit reminiscent of some classic bitter liqueur. Pleasant warm bittersweetness lingers in the throat for a long time after swallowing. In all, very typical American style barleywine, lots of malt fruitiness and sweetness as well as alcohol warmth, and also lots of hop bitterness. Very enjoyable sipper, though admittedly there are still more complex and refined examples in this particular league of beers.

Draft: Poured a caramel with a tan color head. Aroma is light malt. Taste was sweet sticky boozy and malt.

On tap @ the brewpub during RateBeer weekend. Reddish orange appearance with an off white head. Caramel, berry candy, and burnt sugar in the nose. High boost and quite sweet. Cough syrup, caramel, toffee, and raspberries in the flavor. No thanks.

Keg at the brewpub, 01/02/16. Rich chestnut brown with a decent beige cap. Nose is caramel, nutty, wooded notes, airy malt, dark fruit rinds. Taste comprises fruit cake, toffee, hazelnuts, light spice, figs. Medium + bodied, fine carbonation, light boost in a sweet close. Ok regulation BW if a touch pedestrian.