Old Godfather Barley Wine-Style Ale
"I'd gotten to know quite a few mafiosi, and all of them told me they loved the picture because I had played the Godfather with dignity. Even today, I can't pay a check in Little Italy." --Marlon Brando Burnished orange with a generous splash of cranberry red. The upper few inches of the snifter contain a quality cap of pale orangish ecru that is more creamy and more persistent than most 10.2% ales that I've run across. This is a beautiful barleywine. The nose is solid as well, even if it isn't as hoppy as I like beer of this style to be. I'm guessing that there's slightly more pale malt than caramel malt, but it's hard to say for sure. A cherries macerated in vodka fruitiness completes the nasal profile. It smells like Old Godfather will be strictly by the book on the palate. Tough call. My first impression is that the body isn't big enough for the ABV. The beer feels a trifle thin in the mouth and is a little too harshly medicinal. I'm starting it out close to 55 degrees (which isn't optimal, I know), so I'll reserve final judgment until it comes a little closer to room temperature. Given the '001' on the back of the silk-screened bottle, my best guess is that this beer is a little over one year old. I'm pretty sure that Speakeasy didn't start bottling this offering until early 2006. Given that, it's still an impressively bitter American barleywine. I wish, however, that more hop flavor had survived intact... assuming it was there to begin with. Warming helps somewhat, but I'm still not blown away by Old Godfather. English toffee and sugared grapefruit rind are still saturated by too much unchecked alcohol. In fact, tongue numbing is beginning to set in, keeping me from appreciating any nuances that might be developing as the beer gains a few degrees. The mouthfeel doesn't really come together as well as I'd like. It's on the light side of medium for the style, yet still manages a slick, modestly sticky finish. More malt is the obvious answer to most of this beer's (admittedly minor) faults. I wish that I had let Old Godfather Barley Wine-Style Ale age for another year at least. More time in the cellar will probably smooth out some of the rough edges, but I can't see how the mouthfeel will do anything but deteriorate. Unfortunately, at this point in time, this is an offer that I *can* refuse.