Old Sleepyhead
The Courtyard Brewery

2017 version on draft at Courtyard. Poured a semi-opaque, light brown color with a small, khaki-colored head of foam. It left sudsy lace. It smelled of toffee, sweet caramel and booziness. Sweet toffee, caramel and vanilla with a boozy heat.

 

 

Pours a light copper with a thin layer of foam that hangs around on the edge of the glass. Nose and palate are sweet, both more like a quad than a barleywine. That said, it's very tasty. Very light orange zest and floral notes countering the brown sugar.

when i visited the brewery here they had several different vintages of this flowing as leftovers from part of an anniversary celebration or something, all were delicious and only different in subtle ways, fairly textbook for the style, although perhaps a shade darker than a lot of these ever look, a reddish glow through the haze and froth. aroma is appropriately sweet for the style but grainy too, i get the pale wheat, but i swear i get like sweet corn or something in here too, a vegetal sweetness, natural and good, somehow delicate in a beer where the booze is so hot in the nose. light fruitiness and bruleed sugar in the flavor, plantain and raisin notes, the caramelized grain sugar, and burning alcohol cutting through the density. it has plenty of nuance, a breadiness about it, and a thick and rich wheaty body. it glides down smoothly but does pack a fusel hotness as well. this is sturdy beer, nice in the fall, and a well made example of the style. small doses only though with something of this enormity...

On draft at the brewery

Clear dark chestnut brown, copper highlights, thin white head. Thin ring stays to the bottom of the glass. Rich boozy and caramel aroma. Taste is a bit hot, but in a good way. Well balanced. Drier finish than expected. Sticky mouthfeel.