Old Bawdy
Pike Brewing Company

Old BawdyOld Bawdy
Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
Pike Brewing Company
 
Washington, United States
Style:
American Barleywine
Ranked #172
ABV:
9.9%
Score:
86
Ranked #18,690
Avg:
3.83 | pDev: 10.44%
Reviews:
125
Ratings:
221
Status:
Active
Rated:
Feb 26, 2023
Added:
Apr 10, 2002
Wants:
  11
Gots:
  21
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by tavernjef:
Photo of tavernjef
Reviewed by tavernjef from Minnesota

3.57/5  rDev -6.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Clouded dark peach. Very slim and loose foamy cap of whiteness emerges briefly. Lacing is dotted in a few areas.

Aroma is dank, dark, and beefy of old pear, dark apple mush, and some musty melon. Quite fruity, a touch of citrusy notes with a low toned hoppyness thats a bit alluring in its approach with a bit of soapy woodyness.

Taste is milding with a low graze of fruity notions touching on citrus peels, but landing on pineapple, melon, peach, and apple. Hops are floralesk with a light nuance to pine and citrus. Tender amd light backing of caramel is squeezed in. Ends with a nice buzz of bitterness thats dark and piney with a slight zip to some citrusy stuff and a light and smokey woody dryness. Overall, a bit loose and unlasting. Doesn't seem to carry much impression for me as an American Barleywine. More like a slightly beefed up West Coast IPA with a lower tone then anything.

The overall mouthfeel is partially to blame for it's underwhelming nature as it's a bit weak with no real sensation of girth or thickness that I tend to favor out of BW. The body is a low keyed medium, if that, with a fairly distant front and middel area. Only the finish makes it worth while as it gains a pretty decent climb in tone, flavor, bite, and heat.

An OK BarleyWine, not something I'd consider seeking out, but is worth trying. Mainly because any brewery worth putting out the effort to brew one is winner in my book.
Apr 23, 2007
More User Ratings:
Photo of brewandbbq
Reviewed by brewandbbq from New Hampshire

4/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
12oz bottle from 1998.

Pours clear mahogany with a short-lived head of white. Minimal retention or lacing. Plump, bready malt in the nose. Medium bodied with a soft, slickish mouthfeel. Sweet malt on the palate with minimal bitterness. Finishes malty with zero hops.
Feb 26, 2023
Photo of VashonGuy
Reviewed by VashonGuy from Washington

4.12/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
I first rated this beer in 2017, and wasn't too impressed. I had it again last night, five or six years later, and either my tastes have changed, or the beer got a lot better. The beer I had was a 2016 vintage, so maybe it's the aging that did the trick. The scores are my judgment from last night.

The pour was gorgeous. Big foamy head, tons of lacing. It's the best looking beer I can remember.

This is pretty hoppy, and that comes across in the smell and especially the taste. I notice that some reviewers compare it to SN Bigfoot, and I can see that, but I'd say that Bigfoot is more aggressively hoppy, while Old Bawdy 2016 has a smoother blend of hop flavors with caramel maltiness.

On tap at The Beveridge Place.
Jan 07, 2023
Photo of tone77
Reviewed by tone77 from Pennsylvania

3.72/5  rDev -2.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Poured from a brown 22 oz. bottle. Has a pretty dark amber color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is of brown sugar, dark fruits, light cocoa. Taste is sweet and boozy. There is alcohol, brown sugar, hops and cocoa are present, light dark fruits. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is an enjoyable beer.
Aug 08, 2019
 
Rated: 3.67 by Oh_Dark_Star from Washington

May 26, 2019
 
Rated: 4 by paulish from New York

May 10, 2019
Photo of daliandragon
Reviewed by daliandragon from Maryland

4.18/5  rDev +9.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
This is a 2012 vintage I had been hanging onto for awhile. Rusty brown color and a still meaningful beige head. Nose is grapeskin, dark fruit, molasses, and smoked sausage.

The flavor is similar and still very lively on the tongue with a thick, coating texture. There is a burned and roasted note that follows in the aftertaste. This has aged pretty well and I would look for it again.
Jan 06, 2019
Photo of Radome
Reviewed by Radome from Florida

3.73/5  rDev -2.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Poured from a 12 oz bottle bought in Seattle.

L - Dark gold to light brown color, but murky. Very little foam or lacing, but there is an irregular, ragged sheet of bubbles partially covering the surface.

S - Rich, malty aromas, as expected. There are raisins, prunes and molasses. No hops stand out. Low, sweet alcohol along with some fruity yeast character.

T - Sweet malt with molasses, gingerbread and prunes. Hops appear as an indistinct, spicy bitterness. Slightly sweet finish. Flavors don't have a lot of depth.

F - Medium to heavy body seems appropriate. Low but slightly creamy carbonation. Medium hops bitterness cuts the malt sweetness. Moderate alcohol presence doesn't seem objectionably hot.

O - This is a good barleywine, but doesn't have the depth and complexity of flavors and aromas of the best examples I've had.
Jul 02, 2018
Photo of rodbeermunch
Reviewed by rodbeermunch from Nevada

3.97/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Revealing my old school ness, allow me to say this is one of my favorite non barrel aged barleywines out there. Back in the 90s, there weren't a lot of options, but Pike was one of the ballers in the game. Pours a dark burnt orange and auburn kind of color with a full inch of head that sticks around and has retention for days. Aroma hits a lot of malt sweetness and caramel feels.

Taste is a blast of hops just underneath Fresh Bigfoot. The mouthfeel has a warming presence from the alcohol, but no bitter sting that you might expect with this much hops and alcohol. The hops give off the old school pine and grapefruit combo, a little bit of caramel with the ever so slightest drop of vanilla at the end.

This isn't going to knock anyone's socks off in this day and age, but man, back in the day, this was one of the best scores you could make. I've never drank this aged, but I have a 10 year old bottle I would like to check out here soon. Will update score then.
Apr 21, 2018
 
Rated: 3.5 by 1971bernat from Virginia

Jan 02, 2018
 
Rated: 3.34 by mltobin from Connecticut

Sep 29, 2017
Photo of Lone_Freighter
Reviewed by Lone_Freighter from Vermont

3.88/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Reviewed from notes.
This was poured into a snifter.
The appearance was a mostly dark ruby red to cloudy brown color yet with a subtle transparency about it. But when held up to the light, not much carbonation could be seen rising. Just a film of a little white foamy head sat atop but slid off at a mild pace.
The aroma had some dark to pomme-like fruits glossing over some brown sugar, faint dried tobacco, sweet citrus, light grassiness and some cocoa powder at the very end.
The flavor was mildly sweet with slight bitterness trying to stiffen up the undercut of the sweetness. Tobacco/grassiness seemed a bit more blended yet also a touch fainter than in the aroma along with the cocoa powder and brown sugar. Aftertaste seemed more of the dark and pomme-fruits.
The mouthfeel was about medium bodied with a fair sipping quality about it as the carbonation felt fine and nothing really seemed to obstruct the sips in terms of a steady balancing ABV to the overall feel. Some dryness along my tongue but not overly gripping.
Overall, pretty nicely done American styled Barleywine, fans of SN's Bigfoot and Rock Art's Vermonster should like this one.
Aug 12, 2017
Photo of wmartin
Rated by wmartin from North Carolina

3.5/5  rDev -8.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Good, but not great for its style.
Jul 26, 2017
 
Rated: 4 by Beer-A-Lot from Virginia

Jun 21, 2017
 
Rated: 4 by Daniellobo from District of Columbia

May 06, 2017
 
Rated: 3.63 by shelby415 from Oregon

Dec 23, 2016
Photo of hman43
Reviewed by hman43 from North Carolina

3.87/5  rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Look: It pours cloudy medium brown with a tinge of orange and a light brown head.

Smell: The aroma has plenty of sweet malt with bread and caramel. It also has aroma of plums and floral elements. It also has hints of citrus that is orange like.

Taste: The malt is predominant with a balance between the esters and hops in the background. The malt flavors are sweet with the hop balance being somewhat aggressive with a moderate alcohol element in the taste. It has bread and caramel malt richness in the flavors with floral hops and citrus that in orange like. There are also hints of plums and the alcohol does has a hint of whiskey element in it as well.

Feel: It has a chewy body with moderately high alcohol warming that is a slight tinge hot, but not unpleasant. It is somewhat dry and the floral hops and dryness linger on the palate.

Overall, this is a malt forward barley wine that is moderately hop aggressive as the beer warms.
Dec 10, 2016
Photo of jmdrpi
Reviewed by jmdrpi from Pennsylvania

4.06/5  rDev +6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
22 oz bottle, 2015 vintage

Cloudy dark copper colored, white head. Aroma of boozy caramel and earthy hops. Taste is fairly bitter, drier finish. Sticky mouth feel.
Nov 24, 2016
Photo of JohnTurano
Rated by JohnTurano from Florida

4.16/5  rDev +8.6%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
2015 Bottle
Jun 18, 2016
 
Rated: 3.61 by Ohiovania from Ohio

Jun 05, 2016
Old Bawdy from Pike Brewing Company
Beer rating: 86 out of 100 with 221 ratings