Gatlin Damnosus
Anderson Valley Brewing Company

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From:
Anderson Valley Brewing Company
 
California, United States
Style:
American Barleywine
ABV:
8.8%
Score:
87
Avg:
3.9 | pDev: 13.59%
Reviews:
28
Ratings:
74
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Oct 27, 2021
Added:
Apr 16, 2011
Wants:
  2
Gots:
  4
This sour ale is produced by aging our Horn Of The Beer Barleywine in Wild Turkey bourbon barrels for extended periods of time (up to 2 years.)
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Texasfan549:
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Rated by Texasfan549 from Texas

4/5  rDev +2.6%

Jul 24, 2014
More User Ratings:
Photo of colts9016
Reviewed by colts9016 from Idaho

3.86/5  rDev -1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Review 1701
Gatlin Damnosus
Anderson Valley
Date: Unknown
Sour Barleywine
Not sure how this is going to taste. I think the beer is at least a year old, if not a touch older. I used a tulip glass; the temperature was 46 degrees. A frothy and creamy light tan head with excellent retention. The slow dissipation left lacing on the glass. The color charts around SRM 18, dark mahogany brown. Little clarity is visible when put up to a light source. The appearance of the beer is above average.
When I pried the top off, I got aromas of apple cider and bourbon. What an intriguing combination for this first sniff. Nosing further, I detect floral, vinous, wood, toffee, roasted malts, molasses, earthy barnyard notes, and some herbal. It has this odd horse blanket mixed with dirty water smell, rather unappetizing.
The sourness just smacks your palate in an unforgiving way. I taste bourbon, herbal, floral, oak, toffee, medium roasted malts, funky barnyard, vinous, apple cider, molasses, and honey.
The mouthfeel is astringent and bitter. The body is medium-plus, medium carbonation, and has a bitter finish.
I want an unforgiving malty monster for a barleywine. If I wanted a sour barleywine, include the heavy malt characters. The sourness tends to be unpleasant and weird. This beer is a miss for me; I wanted more barleywine and not an overpowering sour mess.
Oct 27, 2021
Photo of VABA
Reviewed by VABA from Virginia

4.15/5  rDev +6.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
A-Pours a fat chestnut color with a nice head and lacing
A-Aroma has slight Bourbon, caramel and honey
T-The taste follows the nose with a ripe red fruit, slight Bourbon and a nice light sour flavor
M-A light bodied well carbonated beer
O-A good Barleywine
Mar 14, 2020
 
Rated: 3.47 by kds2437 from Texas

Dec 21, 2019
Photo of elNopalero
Reviewed by elNopalero from Michigan

4.15/5  rDev +6.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Oooh, a sour barleywine!

This pours a ruddy amber.

Tart, sour, with notes of cherry and hints of toffee and caramel malt. Surprisingly light and refreshing for a barleywine. It's the souring. This was delicious.
Oct 25, 2018
 
Rated: 4.15 by SlowSmoke from California

Jul 10, 2018
 
Rated: 3.86 by jason_nwx from Oregon

Feb 01, 2018
 
Rated: 4.08 by DrewSnyc667 from Massachusetts

Nov 10, 2017
Photo of Phil-Fresh
Reviewed by Phil-Fresh from California

3.98/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Bottle.

A: Lots of bourbon, vanilla, light malt sweetness, light red-wine, and wood.

A: Dark brown, clear, with a moderate rocky white head with adequate retention.

T: Strong bourbon flavor, slightly vinous, earthy, with a moderately strong lingering sourness that lasts through the finish.

M: Medium-full body, with moderately-light carbonation. The beer has a moderately light, but pleasing acidity.

O: Solid; the beer has a complex character, but the ample bourbon character almost overpowers the rest of the beer.
Aug 26, 2017
Photo of avalon07
Reviewed by avalon07 from South Carolina

4.11/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
L: Poured from a bottle to a pint glass. Had a medium brown color and a cloudy texture. There was a massive, off white, creamy, extremely long-lasting head. Excellent lacing.

S: A nice aroma of malt, bourbon, a vinous quality, caramel, and dark fruit as well.

T: Tasted of a bit of caramel, some of the aforementioned vinous quality (more than you expect from a barleywine), a good amount of malt, a woody quality, some bourbon, and dark fruit (plums, in particular). An interesting flavor for the style, mainly due the inclusion of the wine and bourbon elements. Quite flavorful.

F: A fair amount of carbonation with a smooth finish. Medium-bodied.

O: This isn't your typical barleywine, that's for sure, but it is well made and tasty. Drinkable.
May 24, 2017
 
Rated: 4.03 by Magery from Kentucky

Apr 22, 2017
Photo of danasofia
Reviewed by danasofia from California

4.67/5  rDev +19.7%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 5
Poured from a bomber into a tulip glass.

Look - Bordering on black: deep maroon and muddy caramel brown at the bottom as more light reaches through the glass. An almost imperceptible lightness in color above a stout with greater opaqueness.

Smell - Incredibly dry, woody and nutty, a bit boozy, and quite tart with a hint of dark fruit, chocolate, and coffee.

Taste - Bright and juicy/fruity tart flavors (grapefruit and tropical fruit) on the front with a slow bleed into dark fruit and red wine grapes, nuts, chocolate, caramel and coffee, with a broad, earthy tone to the flavor with a sharply sour bite (slightly acetic or reminiscent of vinegar) intermingling with it. Strong alcohol presence throughout. Very subtle bourbon bite that is basically only present due to the high alcohol content.

Feel - Fairly thin, with a slight hint of thicker viscosity that doesn't quite get there. It is, however, helpful in making the beer more refreshing despite its incredibly rich, heavy, and strong flavors (sweet malt, dark fruit and plums, nuts, acetic and dry tartness).

Overall - This is an unusual and unique beer. It has an incredible mix of sweet and rich stout-staple flavors and incredibly dank, earthy English-style flavors, as well as the surprisingly assorted fruit flavors and earthy red wine midrange. If a bit overpriced for its success (around $15), but worth the buy for its unique character. This beer seems underrated for me as it currently stands. The specific range of flavors accomplished by sour-culturing a barleywine using bourbon barrels (as opposed to, say, white wine barrels maybe) is very impressive.
Feb 22, 2017
Photo of StonedTrippin
Reviewed by StonedTrippin from Colorado

3.96/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
havent had a lot of intentionally soured barleywine types, so this was new for me and obviously a bold step for anderson valley, who hasnt gotten this weird all that often that i am aware of. the base beer is super solid, rich english toffee notes coming from the grain base at the center of this, raisin, fig, and caramel popcorn also at the heart. its cloudy but very heady, not quite white, but lacy and lasting. bourbon and oak are high too, the barrel was a nice call for the barleywine, and it makes a huge impact. alcohol and sugar from the barrel, but i get plenty of the wood too, rich and mellowing, slow and steady all the way through. the sourness is where it loses me a little, its vinegar to me, and tastes a little more like an infection than an intentional pitch, but that said, its not a bad thing, and its not so sour that i cant still taste the delicious barrel aged base beer. tart cherry and red wine accents in here, neat with that fruit essence together with the bourbon. some in our group liked it more than others, but one thing is for certain, there is nothing like this out there at all, at least that i have ever tasted. if it was intentional, it could use some softening on the sourness, if it was unintentional, they got lucky that it still tastes really yummy...
May 17, 2016
 
Rated: 2.5 by conoraugustine from North Carolina

Aug 08, 2015
Photo of Moose90
Reviewed by Moose90 from Washington

3.82/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Served On-Tap

A — Pours a deeply dark amber/brown with some ruby hues, head is puffy and tan colored, but fades fairly quickly due to the high ABV and acidity.

S — Smells of a rich and wonderful Barleywine, sweet malts and sugars, cinnamon, spice, coffee, malty and rich.

T — Tastes quite tart and sour, vinegar, oak, spice, rich malts, quite a conundrum of flavors.

M — Medium-Full Bodied, fairly long lasting finish, though it is thinner than most Barleywine.

O — A very odd and unique beer for sure, not sure that Sour Barleywine needs to be a style, but hey kudos to AV for making one!
May 23, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by waddellc2 from Pennsylvania

Dec 09, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by LehighAce06 from Pennsylvania

Dec 01, 2014
 
Rated: 3.9 by Knapp85 from Pennsylvania

Nov 28, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by Sammy from Canada (ON)

Nov 18, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by curlybird from Pennsylvania

Nov 17, 2014
Gatlin Damnosus from Anderson Valley Brewing Company
Beer rating: 87 out of 100 with 74 ratings