Dogfish Head Olde School 2010 Vintage

Brewery: Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
Location: Milton, DE
Style: Barleywine
Brewery Website
Rating: A-

For today's tasting I reached into the cellar to have my first crack at Dogfish Head's 2010 release of their Olde School barleywine. The beer poured up a deep amber with gold highlights and a very short, off-white head. The nose at first reminded me a bit of a highland scotch whisky. There are sweet malt notes, some banana esters as well as some winy notes.

The palate finds rich maltiness. There are fruity notes along with a quick squirt of citrus acidity. Some apricot notes are here from the hops as well. The yeast lends notes of banana and circus peanut. Malt contributions include bagel and pretzel notes. The Olde School has a full body. There is still some nice carbonation left after over a year in the bottle. Alcohol is potent and warming, although quite smooth. The finish sees fruity notes, malt syrup and rich doughy malt notes continuing to ride out.

Dogfish Head has another great beer on their hands with the Olde School. This is a really nice barleywine. There are some nice yeast notes, just enough residual sugar without being cloying and a nice combination of juiciness and fruitiness that compliment each other well. There is also a nice scotch note on the nose that I love. the best thing is that this beer will continue to age well for at least 3-5 more years, if not longer. My only issue is how long to wait before i crack into the next one.