Old Scoundrel
Sound Brewery

22oz into a tulip. (No idea how old this bottle is--a few years for sure. I'd guess about 2014. I submitted the BA photo shown on this profile page, same bottle.) Pours a murky coppery amber--looks like apple cider. Pretty much zero head. Not the most appetizing-looking beer I've poured.

Aroma is sweet and malty, notes of apple and caramel.

Taste is likewise sweet, a touch acidic with a bitterly hoppy finish. As it warms, more sweet fruits: dates and figs mostly.

Mouthfeel is on the heavy side of medium. Slick and a touch boozy.

Overall an OK barleywine but not one I'd seek out again.

Poured into a snifter.
The appearance was a dark ruddy amber brown color with a small cap of a little white foamy head swiftly dissipating. Some messy sliding lace.
The aroma had a wonderful blend of sweet dark fruits (raisins, plums, dates) combining with some yeasty bready and grassy hops. Light leather and dark chocolate come in for balance. Some brown sugar and earthiness.
The flavor moderately leaned into the sweetness then meshed with the dryness of the leathery to toasty yeastiness. Mild aftertaste of nuts, raisins, earthy character and dark chocolate.
The mouthfeel was about medium bodied with a fair sipping quality about it. Good carbonation and ABV. Leathery dry finish with some earthy to nuttiness.
Overall, good English barleywine, I'd have again.

 

 

From a bomber, into a tulip. Hazy brown amber color. Brown sugar, Belgian yeast, sweetness on the nose. Taste follows, but there is a good hop aftertaste. This really reminds me of the Achel Brown; it is an excellent beer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hot and wet, a blast to the brain. "Sunroof top, digging the scene..."

Modest foam but a tangy carbonation on the tongue. Sweet but sharp with a winey, fruity, liqueur flavor that is thoroughly interesting.

Another interesting brew from Sound. Warm and alcoholic, but full of malty intensity with a browned roasty taste. Flowery and resiny hops with an incense-like aromatic. Just sweet enough, in fact a nicer balance of malt and hops than a most Barley wines.

From the 22 oz bottle purchased at 99 Bottles in Federal Way. Strong but delightfully sippable.
3.75 4.0 4.25 4.0 4.25

A gorgeous cloudy, murky darkish brown fills the snifter. There is the start of a head, but it never really materializes. A swirl of the snifter creates a new one and it's a really dirty yellow color. Overall nice looking but I don't want to have to swirl each time to see a head. No lacing.

A nice combination of that oaky, vanilla Barleywine scent mixed with the acids citrus of Cascade hops. Grapefruit with just a pinch of pineapple.

Amazing taste. All the sweet malt you can experience with the fruity acid to cut the sweetness and provide a nice balance. Alcohol is very present, but always plays nicely with the other ingredients.

The style is always aggressive but there is ample sweetness, just enough bitterness, and a splash of heat to provide a reasonably drinkable beer. Very full bodied. A. Otter, acidic, warm finish, but it's not crisp and that's ok.

Overall, this is a great Barleywine. Easy to drink and plenty of ABV. Glad I've got a bomber.

 

 

22oz bomber courtesy of riversideAK over on RateBeer, thanks Alex! It pours with a murky copper body that has gold hues and supports a tan head of foam. The aroma offers up hoppy pine, floral and citrus hops along with thick malty sweetness laced with a light amount of fruity esters and booze. The taste is pretty thick and rich with malt sweetness, resiny pine and grapefruit flowing around into floral hops as well as a touch of soap and sweet fruity esters. This is big and sweet and hoppy and interesting. It has enough sweetness and that touch of fruity esters that it seems like it wants to be an English style barleywine but the resiny bitter hops get in the way. The other way around it seems the sweetness and esters get in the way of this being a solid American style barleywine. Interesting. I wouldn't know which style to pegs this to.

22 ounce bottle into snifter, late 2013 bottling. Pours slightly hazy deep orange copper color with a small fairly dense light khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a thin lace cap that lingers. Light spotty soapy lacing clings around the glass, with some light streaming carbonation. Aromas of raisin, caramel, grapefruit, orange zest, toast, toffee, brown sugar, brown bread, floral, grass, and toasted earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance and complexity of dark/toasted malt and light-moderate citrus hop notes; with good strength. Taste of raisin, caramel, toast, toffee, grapefruit, orange zest, brown sugar, brown bread, floral, grass, slight pine, and floral/toasted earthiness. Light floral/pine bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of raisin, caramel, toast, toffee, brown sugar, brown bread, grapefruit, orange zest, floral, grass, and toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Very nice complexity and robustness of dark/bready malt and light-moderate citrus hop flavors; with a good malt/bitterness balance and zero cloying sweetness after the finish. Light-medium carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a smooth, moderately creamy, and lightly slick mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is well hidden with only a slight warming present after the finish. Overall this is a very nice English barleywine. All around good balance and complexity of dark/bready malt and light-moderate citrus hop flavors; and very smooth to sip on for the big ABV. A very enjoyable offering.