Southampton Old Herb

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

2006 vintage - I've had this beer stored for quite awhile now. In fact I forgot about the darned thing for so long, it was hidden behind several other taller bottles on my shelf so in a weekend of shuffling things around I saw it and thought...let's drink!

The beer pours out a hazy reddish/brown (rust water) color with a two-finger thick head. Aromas were herbal/spicy hops, vegetative with some molasses-like notes. Flavor of stale malts, veggies with a strong toffee-candy finish. No notice of the alcohol, which was nice. Decent English barleywine, but nothing special.

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 7

2006 bottle consumed in 2007: Poured a cloudy deep hazy brown color ale with no carbonation. Aroma of sweet vinous malt is dominating. Taste is a mix between some very sweet malt with some light toffee notes. No discernable hops or dry fruits characteristics which I usually enjoyed in this style. Body was full with limited filtration with no carbonation and no discernable alcohol. This is a weird one – almost like drinking a 10-15 year old Thomas Hardy without all the complexities.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

A murky copper to brown appearance. A malty aroma consisting of molasses and oranges. The one was rather sweet and herbal with some oranges and caramel flavors. A rather creamy and spicy finish. A nice english style barleywine.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Orange gold color. Small sized head. Aroma is caramel, vanilla, brown sugar and alcohol. A medium to full bodied barley wine. Malts are intensely caramel and fruit. Hops are slightly grapefruity. Oranges and brown sugar. Extremely smooth tasting. Nice balance. Alcohol is very noticeable, aside from that this is a nice subtle complex barley wine. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finis is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter. Thanks for sharing this one Sean...

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

Thanks for Dcopperfields for sharing this one. Malty, caramel-sweet, w/ a slightly salty finish, this is a middle of the road barleywine.

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 3

Bottle # 16. Really disappointing. Infected. Sour flavor. We bought them at Half Time Beverage. Yeast nose and some hops. Very disappointing.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 4 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 6

copper orange color to it. Old veggie aroma, stinking molded grass too. Bitter green veggies and latex glove powder in the body. weird and not all that good.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 10 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

Cask, draft and vintage bottled versions. I have to say this stuff kicks ass. So nicely balanced without the big malt or alcohol taste that I get from most barleywines. I have to say I like the ’03 version most.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 10 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

Cask, draft and vintage bottled versions. I have to say this stuff kicks ass. So nicely balanced without the big malt or alcohol taste that I get from most barleywines. I have to say I like the ’03 version most.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

2002 bottle 387 / 500. Poured a hazy reddish color with some brown hue and no head what so ever. Sweet, vinous aroma of chocolate, plums, malt, and alcohol. Sweet and sticky taste of alcohol, dark fruits, some hops, and chocolate. The alcohol was rough in this one, and the first sip was a little shock. Once it warmed up it was much more pleasant.