Anchor Brewing Company's Old Foghorn Barleywine

Another of my favorite seasonals from this excellent brewery, Old Foghorn packs a decent punch.

Pours a deep copper that you can't quite see through until it settles, with a huge pillowy tan head. Slow, small carbonation.

As the head recedes it throws off an almost bourbon smell, but the sharp bourbon smell fades just a bit to allow a sweet bready smell to come through. The hops don't really stand a chance against that much malt and alcohol, but it's under there somewhere.

You know, I think Belgian monks could fast longer on a barleywine than a quad. This is almost meaty. Foghorn has more bourbon flavor than other barleywines, and it's a little sweeter than my favorites, but it's hard to make a beer with this large of a grain bill without it coming across as sweet and bready. And the bready I like, the more the better, but the man flaw in this one is that it's a bit too sweet. And I don't remember that it had such a bourbon hit to it last year, which is also a downer for me, but overall it's a great beer. I'm saving the other five to see how they age, right next to a case of '09 Bigfoot. Should be fun.