Brewery: Anchor Brewing Company
Beer: Old Foghorn
Style: English Barleywine
ABV: 8.8%
Character: The first modern American Barleywine, introduced in 1975
Metal Connection: FOG – By the Axe we Rule
I do recall once upon a time when I was turning the ripe ‘ol age of 21, and venturing over to The Flying Saucer, one of the first places I ever went to to taste the best thing to ever ruin my liver, Craft Beer! Old Foghorn was one of the first Barleywines I ever had, one of the first beers to completely knock me to retard mode when I was younger. This beer along with The Hairy Eyeball by Lagunitas were the devil for me. I actually have not had one of these in a very long time. When I went to the store to pick up some new beer, I spotted this bad boy on the single bottle shelves, and I paced by it a few times before throwing it (not literally) into my basket. Does it stand up to my early memories? Oh wait…. those memories are long gone! It’s like drinking it for the first time again.
Using my San Antonio Beer Week 2013 snifter glass, this barleywine poured a very beautiful dark amber opaque color with a nice thin layer of tan head. The head retained throughout, leaving nice sticky lacing down the glass. Lots of carbonation bubbles in this one.
The aroma is plentiful with a mix of malts and fruits. I can pick up on dark cherries, prunes and plums along with caramel, toffee and butterscotch. There is a good slightly strong alcohol smell that also lingers in a bit leaving a burning sensation in my nose. Very good aroma.
The taste also has the same interesting cast of characters. It is driven by the malt flavors up front, so right away I picked up the toffee, caramel, and the butterscotch. There is a sweet dark fruit (i.e. prunes, dark cherries, plums) taste at the finish that lingers along with a boozy taste, giving this beer it’s left-right punch combination.
This one has a slight thick body, but the mouthfeel is creamy and smooth. This one was definitely easy to drink considering it’s 8.8% ABV. Usually beers which are this high, don’t go down so easy.
This is an old favorite of mine, and I still enjoy it to this day. So overall, I will say that this beer is damn near perfect for me. I say try this if you haven’t already.
Metal Connection: Old Foghorn please meet the band FOG, an American Black Metal band from Indiana. Around the time I was introducing myself into craft beer, this band released an album on World War III Records by the title, Through the Eyes of Night… Winged They Come. Here is a song from this album. Please enjoy the epic song, “By the Axe we Rule.”
Beer Metal Media 