Old Salty Barleywine 2005 Barrel Aged
Heavyweight Brewing Co.

 

 

 

 

Received this in White Whale IV BIF from mikeyv35. Served in a Michigan Brewer’s Guild tulip.

A - Pours with surprising carbonation. A finger-plus of tan foam settles to a thick ring and partial cap, but minimal lace. Transparent dark brown body with some transparency when held at the right angle. Swishing the glass totally reactivates the foam.

S - Butterscotch, coconut, and oak - definitely a lot of barrel present here. Base beer provides brown sugar, molasses, and light oxidation notes. Gets increasingly woody as it warms up. Still pretty potent and defined after 6 years.

T - Taste is a little sweeter, with less overt oak character. Port-like oxidation, brown sugar, raisins, molasses, and butterscotch. Not much whiskey or overt alcohol - I’m guessing these have mellowed out over the years.

M - Carbonation is much too high - somewhat harsh and spritzy. It actually takes a while to settle down enough so that one can objectively evaluate the taste properly. Medium body seems a touch thin for 11%. Some tannic oak in the finish, but minimal alcohol warmth.

D - Had the unfortunate position of being consumed concurrently with M. Still it was quite tasty for a 6-year old barrel-aged barley wine. Once the bubbles dissipate a bit it’s a nice treat that any lover of the style should get to experience. Seems to be aging gracefully if cellared properly, although it’s not going to be better with additional age methinks.

 

 

 

I was at the Collins bar in NYC. BA member johnniemarg was kind enough to buy the two of us a bottle...

Initial appearance, in the dimly lit bar, was a dark chocolate brown, almost stout-like. However, upon holding the glass to candle light, the actual color is a rich, ruby reddish-brown. Dark, foamy head. Strong lacing.

The aroma of this beer is intoxicating. Several thoughts come to mind; vanilla, bourbon, chocolate, alcohol...very enticing. Couldn't wait to take my first sip.

The taste...yummy! The oak-aging of Old Salty brings out several new flavors to what is already a very good beer. Immediate notes are vanilla, butter, a hint of chocolate and whiskey. It's complex and yet amazingly easy to drink.

Mouthfeel is slick, in a good way. The ultimate adult milkshake. Very mild carbonation.

If it wasn't for the 11% ABV, this would rate a 5 for drinkability. Each sip tasted just as good as the one before it.

I rarely gush about a beer the way I have in this review. But if you have the good fortune to try this oak-aged version of Old Salty, see how many superlatives you can come up with. A wonderful beer.

Pours a nice oily, slightly hazy amber colour with a minimal, soap-like head.

The aroma is sweet and vanilla-like, with some darker berries and a hint of citrus in the mix along with earthy malt and obviously some bourbon as well.

The flavour hits on the charateristics of the aroma quite well. Vanilla seems to be the dominant flavour while the beer is cooler, and as it warms the borurbon starts to come out more and more. The fruit flavours mix in nicely in the middle as well. Alcohol is noticeable but only sporadically and is not intrusive at all. Mouthfeel is slick medium bodied.

This was well done. It's probably my favourite of the barrel-aged brews that I've sampled. It was well balanced and the bourbon was not even close to being overpowering (as I've seen it be in the past) and was actually a nice compliment to the other flavours. I'm still not a huge fan of the barrel-aged phenomenon, but this is one that worked for me.