Irish Walker
Olde Hickory Brewery

Bottled on: 3-7-24
Many thx to CarolinaCardinals for the bottle!

A - Deep Burgundy pour with uber thin lacing and light carbonation.

S - Really light toasted caramel, toffee, and brown sugar on the nose.

T - Lightly toasted caramel, delicate toasted toffee, light brown sugar and molasses, and finishes on the sweeter mellower side.

M - Silky texture with a viscous, light syrupy body while leaving a light sugary residue on the lips.

O - Mellow and easy drinking!

22-ounce bomber picked up as part of a set of Olde Hickory bottles at the 2016 Brews For New Avenues event in Portland, OR. The label shows an ABV of 10%. Enjoyed in a nonic half-pint glass.

Look:
Mahogany body with deep orange highlights, capped with a creamy, sand-colored head that lasts halfway down the glass. Not really any lacing, just a few flecks of sticky foam.

Smell:
The nose is rich and sweet, with caramel-tinged maltiness providing a base for notes of raisins, toffee, molasses, and a hint of strawberries. There's also a slight dusty note of oxidation, but it is actually rather pleasant when combined with everything else.

Taste:
Starts with luscious sweet malt, rich and satisfying. Quite fruity, with a touch of orange marmalade joining with the raisin and strawberry character from the nose. The middle shows roasted cashews, a little dark chocolate, a drop of molasses, and ruby port. There is some oxidation, but it's no more than a brief distraction. Earthy hops play off the oxidation and provide contrast ahead of the semi-sweet finish laden with hints of almonds, anise, candied orange peel, pipe tobacco, and a few grains of cinnamon. The bitterness accumulates and is actually a bit oppressive by the middle of the bottle.

Feel:
Medium-full body, round and somewhat chewy, with just enough bite from the low, frothy carbonation. Finishes with some alcohol warmth.

Overall:
This 9-year-old barleywine has held up well. The fruit character is multifaceted and the sweetness includes some good malt depth. Good body and texture for the style. I do wish it were a bit drier overall, with the finishing bitterness pulled down a notch. But these are nothing more than quibbles. I'm looking forward to working on the second half of the bottle tomorrow night.

4+ year old bottle

Very good head production and retention, especially given the style, ABV, and age.

Aroma walks the line between an English Barleywine and an aged American Barleywine. Malty, leathery, and boozy.

Flavor follows. In my opinion, it leans much stronger into ABW territory, even with the age of the bottle masking some of the hoppy bitterness. Big and bold, but a little mellower than Bigfoot. Dark fruit, leather, grains, plum, apple, port wine. Not particularly sweet; neither overly rich nor complex.

Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a snifter. Bottle dated 12/22/20

I've had this a couple of times before, but for some reason never got around to reviewing it. When I picked one up from GBX for the Barleywine/Stout BIF #2, I figured it would be a great time to grab an extra for myself and write a review!

The beer pours a deep amber/brown color with about one fingers worth of tan head, that slowly recedes leaving behind no lacing.

The aroma is sweet and caramelly with notes of brown sugar, dark fruit, toffee, and molasses.

The flavor is similar to the aroma; caramel, dark fruit (figs, raisins, plums), toffee, and just a hint of chocolate. Medium bodied, and moderately carbonated. The beer is slick on the tongue, and has very little booziness

Overall this is a very nice beer, a good take on a straight forward barleywine.

There is an interesting combination of flavors at work here and I'm diggin' it. Lots of sweet toffee up front that is quickly joined by perfumed, potpourri like fruit notes of spiced oranges and cherries. The finish adds light toasty nuts and hints of baker's chocolate. Dry overall, goes down very easy.

Bottled December of 2020, 9.7% abv

2 yr old bottle. Dark brown with thick fuzzy tan head. Brown leather aroma. Lots going on in the flavor. Plum, dates, and cashews. Heavy on the sweetness. A very malty beer. Mouthfeel is much more carbonated than I anticipated due to the age of the beer. Very smooth and easy to drink, no hint of the alcohol.

Picked up a single from the Appalachian Vintner in Asheville 8-4-22 for $5.22. Bottled 12/22/20; consumed 9-29-22.

Beer poured a murky brown with an okay off-white head.

Nose is nice, dark fruits dominate.

Taste is a large malt base that is figs and plums. Hop addition is light but balancing leaving a slight hint of sweetness.

Mouthfeel is medium to large bodied and very smooth.

Overall, i dig this beer! Very flavorful, a nice sipper on a cool early autumn day!

 

 

12oz bottled 12/22/20 (about 7 months ago) poured into a snifter after a 20 minute warm up from fridge temp 9.7% ABV per label. The beer pours opaque medium brown in color with tan colored head. The head never really gets going, even on a hard pour. It starts and ends in a thin ring and island. Minimal lacing. The aroma is mild and semisweet in nature. Dark, dried fruits, toffee and old leather are notable. The taste is semisweet toffee with an immediate moderate English hop bitterness and flavor. There is some alcohol in the taste, but it's subtle and ok for the style. The mouthfeel is medium plus bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, very good.

De Labirratorium. En copa teku. No está mal, pero resulta áspera y muy alcohólica, no aportando la base maltosa suficiente presencia como para animar a repetirla.

 

 

Irish Walker from Olde Hickory Brewery. Received 10/8/20 from @nc41 in BIF 12. Reviewed 11/2/20.
12 oz bottle stamped on front label “bottled on 02/13/20”. Stored at home at 42 degrees and served at 60 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Final temperature 61.7 degrees.
Appearance – 4.
First pour – Medium amber (SRM 12), clear.
Body – Amber brown (SRM 18), murky and opaque. When held to direct light, same.
Head – Tiny (Maximum five mm, aggressive center pour), tan, fizzy, short retention, diminishing to a one mm crown fed by lazy effervescence and no cap.
Lacing – None.
Aroma – 3.5 – Caramel malty, no hops, no yeast. Not very strong.
Flavor – 4 – Begins slightly sweet with weak caramel and toffee. No hops, no yeast. No alcohol (9 % ABV, as marked on container) taste or aroma but gastric warming reaches that sweet spot between too little and inferno. There are some additional odd flavors I can’t place, probably some more complex alcohols. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 4 – Full, just short of creamy, soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 4 A decent take on an English-style barleywine – good nose and palate – but a bit short on flavor.

Look: It pours brown with a tan head. It has reddish hues when held up tot he light. Head retention is low.

Smell: It has nuts and toffee in the aroma. There are raisin notes with a bit of an herbal note and a slight alcohol note.

Taste: It has malty rich with nuts, toffee, and caramel. There are raisin flavors with a slight dark chocolate note. It has an herbal note to it as well.

Feel: It has a full, somewhat chewy body with alcohol warming. It has a finish that is on the sweet side.

Overall, the flavors are complex, the alcohols are enjoyable, a quality beer.

 

 

 

Dull cola reddish-black with bubbly tan fuzz unevenly displayed on top of the surface.

This one is sweet of woody raisin with a thin watery body that has a bubbly rising carbonation. Additional sweet notes of bright red grapes and even super fruity raspberry and sweet bright red cherry take this totally out of barleywine territory for me, as the only non-fruity flavor I get is a bit of stale wet graham before the cardboard dry finish.