Old Herb Barleywine
Presentation: 12 fluid ounce (355ml) bottle that I picked up during a Beery Shopping trip with Davo whilst in New York several months ago. Nifty presentation, a thick green plastic foil of sorts has a gold top with the year 2004 in black font on it, this is all easily removed as the plastic foil has one of those terribly useful little rip off tabs that makes it a breeze to remove, those chaps at Southampton think of everything. The main label is dark green and yellow and says old herb Barleywine -style ale, with a confusing mix of upper and lower case letters. The main label states that this is a Special Limited Production, Bottle No. 442 of 500 in fact. Appearance: Muddy brown body, murky, cloudy and thick looking. Decent beige head comprised of large bubbles that soon breaks down to a thin broken covering with a few large bubbles left Nose: Malts and Hops and a funky bitter odor in the background. Sweet nose with a chewy tangent. Taste: Caramel sweetness with a dry hop presence and some funky malts on the horizon. Raisins and sultanas with some creamy Devon toffee. Sweet yet dry and bitter. Slight tingly anise on the tongue in the dry bitter finish. Mouthfeel: The 11% is there, but its not in your face, yet it is detectable. Not quite a bold brew, but it has a decent body. Drinkability: Gets better as it warms. Good showing for a high octane brew means that this is a reasonably good drinker. Sits well in the glass and is a faithful partner if sipped on a night. Overall: Cost all of $5- straight. Not really sure it was worth it considering everything, not bad but not great. Maybe aging will improve this, but only very slightly I feel. A tad befuddled though for me. I would think twice about picking up another one of these to be honest, unless it was a Bomber for $5. I expected more from Southampton.