Troutbrook Thomas Hooker Old Marley Barleywine

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

Thanks to jjpm74 for sending me this in our last trade. A nice barleywine from the first sip to the last sip. Caramel malts, dark fruits, brown sugar and a touch of chocolate. Taste had some cheesyness to it, but oddly it worked somehow. Caramel, dark fruits, alcohol and some cheese. Hmmmm. Sounds bad but it really wasn't.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Poured a brownish red color with a thin, tan head that left light lacing on the glass. Aroma of sweet malts, vanilla, light bourbon, dried fruits (prune / raisin), and caramel as well. Taste of dark fruits, light roasted malts, smoke, some cocoa, citrus, and bitter hops, with a fair amount of fusel alcohol.

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

Vintage 2004. Poured a dark brown color with good head, lacing not so hot. Aroma was of bourbon and vanilla. Flavor was oaky vanilla and caramel. Nice balance in the aftertaste of hops.

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

2006 vintage Deep brown brew with reddish hues. Thick tan head that doesn’t hang to long but gave way to a thick long lasting lace around my glass. Aroma is of dark fruit raisins, fig and plum. Even a hint of malt creeps in along with a whiff of alcohol. Taste is sweet and sticky. Taste is a whirlwind of flavors from the dark fruit to caramel to hops and malt…yum! And at the end is the warming taste of the alcohol. This is a slow sipper for sure at 10%. Overall a wonderful barley wine one I’m sure to stock pile around the house for the upcoming winter. Don’t pass this one up!

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

2004 Version...thanks be to eaglefan538 for this one! The label says "amazingly complex" and it did not disappoint. Cider brown pour, no head, a little lace. Aroma even from rinsate (from previous beer) was amazingly strong. Aroma of caramel, maple and molasses...smoke as warmed. The flavor was more of the same. Sweet, but not sticky. Smooth. Nothing overpowering, but not the oompf I was hoping for either. I bump up the overall scoring 1 point for the cool blue bottle! ;)

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

Thanks to Todd for this one! Vintage 2004. Poured a caramel brown color with a nice initial tan head that thinned and disappeared before long. Lacing was weak. The aroma was of caramel, bourbon, and vanilla. Flavor of caramel malts, whiskey, oak/wood, and sweet vanilla. Assertive bitter hop finish, a nice counter-balance to a fairly malty beer. With increasing temperature the smokey notes did come out with a little molasses. Mouthfeel was full, smooth, pleasant, no stickiness, nice carbonation. Complex, a nice treat. 2006 Vintage: Pretty comparable experience, perhaps a little more of the vinous notes, but I was drinking this near the end in a line of six beers right before Old Numbskull.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

(Bottles: 2006--sampled 2006) I picked this brew up from Greens in Atlanta and I look forward to trying it. The aroma is very complex with much sweetness as well as maltiness coming through with maybe some very faint woody overtones with maybe some faint vanilla and maybe candy sugar and very is very warm and inviting. The appearance is a very flat, dark brown to muddy-like in which light cannot penetrate when held up to it with no head whatsoever which did surprise me some but offers some very light-tan lacing that sticks to the glass. The mouthfeel is very complex and very full-bodied with some massive malty complexity with some very slight balances of bitter hoppiness with a palate that is very wet-like but evaporates quickly. The flavor is very malty and sweet, as well as bready, with earthy overtones with some slight oakiness, raisins, caramel, and other dark fruits like dates with an aftertaste that is a bit dry but malty with some slight bitter grapefruit with a finish that offers a final note of hoppiness with maybe some vanilla at the very end. Overall, an interesting take on an American Barleywine and is not all that bad but my next bottle I buy of this I will definitely age for some time and see what an older vintage would be like; nice and young barleywine here for sure.

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

ha, apparently i had a different take on this one... i got a big musty aroma and flavor on this, and i dont know why because i think it was new. some carmel, dates, raisins, chocolate, and soy sauce. rough.

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

A brownish to black apperance. The aroma consists of figs, raisins, and chocolate. The flavor was very sweet with alot of dark fruit present and a burbon finish. Interesting stuff!

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Dark brown body with a very small head. Big alcohol aroma, something that reminds me of raw, fresh fish. Lingering malty flavor. Not bad, but an interesting beer.