Ol' Red Beard
Fitger's Brewhouse

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From:
Fitger's Brewhouse
 
Minnesota, United States
Style:
American Barleywine
ABV:
10.3%
Score:
91
Avg:
4.15 | pDev: 11.57%
Reviews:
16
Ratings:
31
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Dec 31, 2016
Added:
Sep 12, 2004
Wants:
  6
Gots:
  1
American barleywine aged six months in a Woodford Reserve barrel.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by homebrew311:
Photo of homebrew311
Reviewed by homebrew311 from Illinois

4/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Poured in a half pint glass. Pours dark amber, somewhat cloudy, tons of lacing and decent head retention. Nose is mild with notes of rich molasses, chestnut, and caramel. The taste is a malt bomb with sweet grainy character, mild hop bitterness. The mouthfeel is heavy and mild carbonation. Overall, this is skewed in the malt direction of things, but very tasty nonetheless.
May 12, 2012
More User Ratings:
Photo of zeff80
Reviewed by zeff80 from Missouri

4.1/5  rDev -1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Poured out a clear, copper color with a one-finger, off-white head of foam. It smelled piney and malty with some citrusy notes. It tasted sweet and malty with caramel and toffee flavors. It had a nice bitter piney bite. It was crisp, sharp and smooth. A medium to full bodied ale with a dry, clean finish.
Dec 31, 2016
 
Rated: 4 by Hopstout from Minnesota

Feb 28, 2016
 
Rated: 4.22 by JeffSK from Wisconsin

Jan 20, 2016
 
Rated: 4.15 by N_Schleret from Minnesota

Dec 19, 2015
 
Rated: 4.05 by elliott1184 from Minnesota

Dec 09, 2015
 
Rated: 4.2 by The_Dude_710 from Minnesota

May 19, 2015
 
Rated: 4.5 by Jeffrey2310 from Minnesota

Sep 17, 2014
 
Rated: 5 by cl3 from Wisconsin

Jul 08, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by KAF from Iowa

Jul 08, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by olafphysics from Minnesota

Apr 20, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by seangibbs60 from Minnesota

Jan 12, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by bscalt from Minnesota

Feb 14, 2013
 
Rated: 2.5 by NilocRellim from Minnesota

Oct 06, 2012
 
Rated: 4.75 by josephwa from Minnesota

Jun 04, 2012
 
Rated: 4.25 by herman77 from Minnesota

May 29, 2012
 
Rated: 5 by jewellrunner from Missouri

Apr 06, 2012
Photo of maximum12
Reviewed by maximum12 from Minnesota

3.37/5  rDev -18.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
Saving the biggest for last to avoid completely destroying our palates, this brew was out of place in the general lower ABV menu at Fitger's, the only one that hit 10%.

Pour is like murky water running over clay soil, which clears up minimally as it settles. Not much in the nose window: spare fruit, sweet malt, not much of either.

Ol' Redbeard is barrel aged? No trace of whiskey or bourbon in the nose or palate. Nonetheless, half a glass made me happy (or maybe that's just all the alcohol). Terrific, sweet caramel malts spread over the entire beer, bits of vanilla, raisins, figs. Sweet malts & an almost honey-like backbone emerges as it warms & takes over the aftertaste. Touch of oxidation creeps up the ladder, eventually marring the taste significantly. Big, heavy, dead, syrupy in the mouth.

A big beer & a pretty good, honest-to-goodness barleywine. Still, if this were aged in barrels, I'd retire them. They're beyond exhausted!
Mar 30, 2012
Photo of boomer31
Reviewed by boomer31 from Minnesota

3.76/5  rDev -9.4%
look: 3 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
Got this from the bother in law over the weekend in a growler.

A - Pours a hazy deep burnt orange almost red. No head due to the lack of carbonation.

S - Sweet bourbon and malt and not much else. You don't get any of the wood and no hops.

T - Sweet malt followed by bourbon up front. It get a little messy in the back with some dry bitterness and an alcohol burn. The bourbon is lost with the woody dry finish which isn't terribly pleasant. Too bad because the taste up front is very satisfying

M - No carbonation! Shitty because this is a nice full body with great bourbon flavor

D - As odd as the finish is and how much of a punch the alcohol has, this isn't too bad to drink. I'd like to know the ABV though as this has quite a burn.

Overall I'm a bit torn on this beer. The flavor is great up front, very nice bourbon flavor. In the back its an odd combo of dry wood, hop bitterness and alcohol burn. Then the absolute lack of carbonation reminds me of the Brandy Barrel Aged Angel's Share.
Jan 15, 2011
Photo of mothman
Reviewed by mothman from Minnesota

4/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
After having the 2013 vintage in 2015, I am editing my score. It was very much like a bwine and very enjoyable.

2010 vintage: 2.28
This was the 2nd beer I had at the St. Paul Summer beer fest. The brochure said it was the barrel aged version but when I got to the both they only had the regular version.

Pours a small khaki head. Color is a murky caramel bown.

Aroma: Sweet, malty, and sour a bit. Wine like flavors with dark fruits. It is rather odd.

Taste: Very odd for a bwine. Rich and malty like it should be with tons of sweet fruits to it. But it has sour wine-like flavors as in the aroma. Nothing that I am very fond of.

Mouthfeel: Sour and sweet. A medium body with a medium amount of carbonation. Ends dry and sweet.

Overall, a very odd bwine. I was not able to finish my sample and drainpoured it. It just had so many off flavors for a bwine. My first beer from Fitgers and I was very disappointed.
Jun 23, 2010
Ol' Red Beard from Fitger's Brewhouse
Beer rating: 91 out of 100 with 31 ratings