I knew I wanted a beer tonight. Generally, when I say I want a beer, the term is implied to be plural, meaning more than one bottle or glass, though rarely more than three or four these days. But tonight, I think, I may just settle for one, and that being the case it had to be a really good one.

To be fair, it was a pretty big one, too, both in size (a 22 ounce bomber) and in strength (9.7% alcohol by volume). You see, I had just enjoyed a rather sumptuous repast of succulent roast pork rubbed with olive oil and crusted with pepper and garlic, creamy mashed red potatoes, and fresh broccoli in lemon pepper butter. Rather sated on that hearty fare, I was ready for a beer to sip.

A beer like Lagunitas Olde Gnarly Wine barleywine style ale.

And so I poured my bottle into a wide-mouthed, bulb shaped glass and allowed it to warm slightly. Barleywines are, after all, beers to be sipped and savored, and are better appreciated cool, but not cold. Like many wines, they can be cellared for years, usually with interesting effects. My bottle is almost a year old (it's the 2008 I'm sipping).

Barleywine is originally an English style of ale, being a strong and hearty brew of greater body and with higher alcohol than your average ale. In America, they style has been hijacked after a fashion, and Olde Gnarly Wine fits in the American West Coast variant. It is therefore more hoppy and stronger ( a formidable 9.7% by volume alcohol content)  than most English examples.

Lagunitas Olde Gnarly Wine pours to a ruby-tinged orange color with a light and frothy head formation and a delightfully appetizing nose of fresh bread and caramel. This is unquestionably a sipping brew, as you'll discover almost immediately as the rich, almost decadent liquid glides across your tongue. As it does, it will deposit some amazing flavors there: fresh doughy bread, thick chewy caramel, candied fruit, just a hint of chocolate, and dark raisin.

Thick and syrupy in body, Olde Gnarly Wine has a decided sweetness to it that is just barely balanced out in the finish by herbal, perfumey, slightly peppery hops and dry, warming alcohol. But that's OK. Beers like this should be slowly savored. While not as intimidating as Sierra Nevada Bigfoot, nor perhaps as smooth as Anchor Old Foghorn , Olde Gnarly Wine is wonderful in its own right, and a downright bargain at about $5 a bottle.

Update 2/11/2013: I suppose it is fitting that I am updating my review exactly four years after posting my original thoughts on Lagunitas Old Gnarly Wine. I just enjoyed an 11 ounce glass on tap at taco Mac over the weekend, and the beer was as wonderfully bready malty with chewy caramel, a hint of chocolate, dark fruit and peppery hops just as in the past.

Another reason I love this brewery, though, is that while most other brewers contnue to raise their prices again and again, Lagunitas remains affordable. That wouldn't matter if the beer wasn't good, but it is wonderful indeed.

Yes, Old Gnarly Wine was served as an 11 ounce short pour, but at only $4.75 I can deal with that. Compare to Ommegang Gnomegang which was also on but $9.50 for 11 ounces. Twice the price (and up $1 since July of 2011 at that). The beers are equally complex and the Gnarly Wine is actually stronger at 9.7% to the 9.5% of the Ommegang beer. I've bumped this beer up from 4.5 tankards to a full 5 for being a great beer and exceptional value.



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