-
Stop lurking! Log in to search, post in our forums, review beers, see fewer ads, and more. — Todd, Founder of BeerAdvocate
Olde GnarlyWine
Lagunitas Brewing Company
- From:
- Lagunitas Brewing Company
- California, United States
- Style:
- American Barleywine
Ranked #110 - ABV:
- 10.9%
- Score:
- 91
Ranked #7,406 - Avg:
- 4.07 | pDev: 9.34%
- Reviews:
- 766
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Feb 16, 2024
- Added:
- Sep 22, 2001
- Wants:
- 153
- Gots:
- 308
2011: 10.6% ABV, 69 IBU
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by sweetbrew82:
Reviewed by sweetbrew82 from California
4.55/5 rDev +11.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
4.55/5 rDev +11.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Poured from a 22 oz. bomber into my snifter: No freshness date
P: Pours a very deep, golden color out of the bottle. Sits slightly hazy in the glass, registering as a deep amber color sporting an overall tawny hue that looks absolutely beautiful. An aggressive pour produces a 1 fingered, light tan & creamy head that doesn't show much retention (as expected). Minimal lacing, but decent for a barleywine.
A: Man, does this smell great. Big malt aromatics, earthy hops, alcohol, and a great big helping of cherries to round it out. Damn, I wish I could bottle the aroma and use it as air freshener in my house so I could smell it all the time! Outstanding.
T: Hmm, Doggie! Tastes of sweet malts, just the right amount of hops to level the playing field, and some maraschino cherry-flavored goodness to ice the cake. For such a high ABV, the alcohol stays very much under wraps, & is extremely well-masked. While the cherries are always present, they seem to become much more pronounced in the finish to leave a sweet, but not over-bearing, delicious taste in the mouth for a long while.
M: The body weighs in just a smidgeon under full-bodied. It's really smooth, luscious and feels good on the tongue. Gently carbonated to provide a slight carbonic bite that really works.
D: The Olde Gnarlywine drinks so damn easily that it's scary. I knocked back this bomber with ease, and was wishing with all my might that I had another. But, the alcohol does pack a nice punch so you do have to be careful.
Notes: This is one doggone great beer! It looks fantastic, smells even better, and somehow, the flavor manages to outdo the aroma. I had very high hopes for this one, as I've heard great things, and it did not disappoint. This is great! Highly recommended for those who love a good barleywine. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to snatch up a couple more.
Dec 12, 2008P: Pours a very deep, golden color out of the bottle. Sits slightly hazy in the glass, registering as a deep amber color sporting an overall tawny hue that looks absolutely beautiful. An aggressive pour produces a 1 fingered, light tan & creamy head that doesn't show much retention (as expected). Minimal lacing, but decent for a barleywine.
A: Man, does this smell great. Big malt aromatics, earthy hops, alcohol, and a great big helping of cherries to round it out. Damn, I wish I could bottle the aroma and use it as air freshener in my house so I could smell it all the time! Outstanding.
T: Hmm, Doggie! Tastes of sweet malts, just the right amount of hops to level the playing field, and some maraschino cherry-flavored goodness to ice the cake. For such a high ABV, the alcohol stays very much under wraps, & is extremely well-masked. While the cherries are always present, they seem to become much more pronounced in the finish to leave a sweet, but not over-bearing, delicious taste in the mouth for a long while.
M: The body weighs in just a smidgeon under full-bodied. It's really smooth, luscious and feels good on the tongue. Gently carbonated to provide a slight carbonic bite that really works.
D: The Olde Gnarlywine drinks so damn easily that it's scary. I knocked back this bomber with ease, and was wishing with all my might that I had another. But, the alcohol does pack a nice punch so you do have to be careful.
Notes: This is one doggone great beer! It looks fantastic, smells even better, and somehow, the flavor manages to outdo the aroma. I had very high hopes for this one, as I've heard great things, and it did not disappoint. This is great! Highly recommended for those who love a good barleywine. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to snatch up a couple more.
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by ZebulonXZogg from Illinois
4.25/5 rDev +4.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.25/5 rDev +4.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
From 2017. The pour is a foggy reddish brown with a tan head with reddish highlights, a bit of spotty lacing. Boogar factory says caramel, toffee, burnt sugar, taste buds agree, adding some dark fruit. Not much hoppines left. I'd like to see this as a barrel aged 4x12 like Willettized.
Feb 16, 2024Reviewed by StonedTrippin from Colorado
4/5 rDev -1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
4/5 rDev -1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
amazing beer name! a true beauty here, from way before barleywine was "life" among the beer nerds. simple in all the right ways, fully american in its composition, a little more hot and dry than the english ones, and certainly more hoppy. also very little from the yeast on this, so its pretty straightforward beer. i like it a lot fresh, when the hops are front and center, but this also ages as well as just about anything lagunitas makes, mellowing out well, and seemingly taking on complexity in the cellar. a glowing low reddish color in the glass, near clear, with a frothing inch plus of white head, more lively in the glass than a lot of these look, and with a pretty distinctive crimson shade too, not just light amber, unique. the nose is kind of basic when its fresh, a specific type of crystal malt, not too rich or sugary or toasted, more dry and kilned to me, with light floral honey to it, and then the hops, which hit bitter, piney, and a little spicy, oily and robust, almost imperial west coast ipa vibes. the flavor is more balanced, the grain is pretty sturdy, its earthy and only slightly sweet, it has baked warmth to it, hiints of red apple, golden raisin, and faint toffee. the hops are there the whole way, weedy and dank through much of this, but with light citrus and even juniper on the finish, bitter enough for this to be balanced. in the older bottles, the hops keep their bitterness but lose that fruit and herb thing, so this becomes more about the malt, and it takes on a little more of a layered thing, some dry earthy grain, some concentrated long boiled character, a little fig and date aspect, its great in both phases. the alcohol is always present in this, never burning too intense, but its warm the whole way, even in the really old bottles, not out of place in the style, and it kind of carries the flavor along with it, i dont mind it at all. this is not the kind of beer lagunitas is known for, but this is a classic in their lineup and a beer i hope comes back again someday, been awhile since we have seen some of these original beers of theirs...
Jan 09, 2023Reviewed by GlenFarclas from Connecticut
4.45/5 rDev +9.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
4.45/5 rDev +9.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
Looks pretty awesome, deep dirty amber almost rusty in color. Nose is plum, fig, caramalt, maybe some oxidized hops, a hint of cocooa, orange peel. Some booze too, likely a headiness that catches you when you inhale a second too long.
Tastes great, I really do get a lot of dutch processed cocoa upfront. Just big booming chocolatey bitterness. Then it coats the palate in velvety brown sugar, sweet malt character and hits this like medium finish of cocoa and sweet, syrupy maple. Temp is probably right around 50 odd degrees, so it's not ice cold. Yeah, maybe some very subtle citrus, but this one's carried by a ton of cocoa up front.
Psssst this is like 5 bucks for a bomber. Not 20 odd, with wax, only available if you know the Instagram code...
Jul 31, 2022Tastes great, I really do get a lot of dutch processed cocoa upfront. Just big booming chocolatey bitterness. Then it coats the palate in velvety brown sugar, sweet malt character and hits this like medium finish of cocoa and sweet, syrupy maple. Temp is probably right around 50 odd degrees, so it's not ice cold. Yeah, maybe some very subtle citrus, but this one's carried by a ton of cocoa up front.
Psssst this is like 5 bucks for a bomber. Not 20 odd, with wax, only available if you know the Instagram code...
Reviewed by chum_husk from Minnesota
3.33/5 rDev -18.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
3.33/5 rDev -18.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
A bottle from 2018
This thing has mellowed out considerably, as it is an extremely hoppy ale when fresh. As it stands the main flavors are dark malt notes: coffee, dark fruits, leather, booze.
Jul 31, 2021This thing has mellowed out considerably, as it is an extremely hoppy ale when fresh. As it stands the main flavors are dark malt notes: coffee, dark fruits, leather, booze.
Reviewed by Samlover55 from New York
4.34/5 rDev +6.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.34/5 rDev +6.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
22oz bottle into Tulip
2017 vintage
Pours Auburn with thin head
Caramel, toffee, booze,
Burnt carmelized sugar, toffee, herbal medicinal hoppy finish
Feel is medium bodied and syrupy, alcohol hidden well
Overall this is a great Barleywine and cheap
May 26, 20192017 vintage
Pours Auburn with thin head
Caramel, toffee, booze,
Burnt carmelized sugar, toffee, herbal medicinal hoppy finish
Feel is medium bodied and syrupy, alcohol hidden well
Overall this is a great Barleywine and cheap
Olde GnarlyWine from Lagunitas Brewing Company
Beer rating:
91 out of
100 with
1729 ratings
We love reviews (150 characters or more)! Check out: How to Review a Beer. You don't need to get fancy. Drop some thoughts on the beer's attributes (look, smell, taste, feel) plus your overall impression. Something that backs up your rating and helps others. Thanks!