The Beer: Old Ruffian
The Brewer: Great Divide
The Style: Barleywine
ABV: 10.2%
Finally getting around to tasting this one. It's been staring at me for a couple of weeks now. Waiting. Watching. Well guess what, it's drink time so quit giving me the guilt trip, ok?
A note on the style: Barleywines tend to be strong beers that can be cellared and aged for several years to get a more mellow character. Brewers will often label the bottles with what year the vintage is. I confess that I've never had the patience to do this myself but I have directly compared different years at tastings and there is quite a difference. It also tends to taste best at room temp or just below.
Pours a rich mahogany, very appealing. A touch of fruit and pine in the nose mixed in with alcohol. Mouthfeel is quite hoppy, characteristic of American vs English versions, but well balanced. Fruit comes through as well. This is a sipper, but very drinkable! I'd love to have this on a night at the coast.
I mentioned this in a post below, but it was pretty bitter to me when it was very chilled. As i sipped it and it got warmer i liked it a lot more and the bitterness diminished drastically.
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