Review Date 8/4/2004
Try? Re-buy?
Ah, barleywine. It’s not a wine at all, I’ll have you
know, but a style of beer so strong in alcohol content, so rich in flavor
and complexity as to beg a comparison with wine. Rich and warming,
barleywine is usually a great winter beer, perfect to take the chill off
your bones after a cold day spent trudging through the snow.
Beer enthusiasts like myself, however, love the stuff anytime of year. And
I’m happy to say that Flying Dog Horn Dog Barleywine Style Ale is a
great example of such a brew. With about twice the gravity and alcohol of
your usual beer, this is a formidable beer indeed. But that’s OK. You know
you can handle it. Unless, of course, you're drinking away from home. When
you can handle the beer, just handle the keys to a friend.
Flying Dog calls its barleywine Horn Dog. All of their beers have some sort
of canine connection. And the dog on this beer’s label does seem to be, um,
horny. Well, he has a horn on his head anyway. And though I’ve never seen a
horned dog, I have often enough heard people referred to as a horn
dog before. Since alcohol can increase the libido in some people (or perhaps
just reduce their better judgment), the name of this beer may be an apt one.
Horn Dog Barleywine Style Ale is sold in four packs, for which I paid $7.99
here in Georgia. I think the brewery could go the extra few bottles for its
loyal customers and give us six for that price, but what can you do? The
beer is well worth $2 a bottle. How many times have you paid more than that
for a bottle of Bud at a bar?
Flying Dog Horn Dog Barleywine pours to a dark brown to chestnut
color with a light but creamy head formation and a sweet raisiny nose. The
palate has a thick, creamy, and very rich mouthfeel. This is definitely a
full bodied beer. There are lots of complex flavors going on here, most
notably a huge dark fruit component reminiscent of raisin and prune.
But wait. There’s more. Swirl carefully in your mouth and you’ll get notes
of light chocolate, orange, caramel, and fresh bread. In the finish, a
respectable citric bitterness emerges, fighting its way through all of that
wonderful yeasty malty complexity to deposit a lingering bitter buzz on the
tongue.
When it comes to barleywines, this one is a sort of in-betweener I think.
It’s got the huge malty complexity of say, a Young’s Old Nick or an
Anchor Old Foghorn. But it also has some of the big hop character of
a Bigfoot Barleywine or an Old Crustacean. Of course, it’s not quite as
hoppy as those beers.
I can’t see how so wonderfully complex an ale deserves anything less than
five stars. At over 10% alcohol by volume, this a sipping beer, and one that
will age nicely (and mellow) over time.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft