Review: Horn Dog Barley Wine Style Ale

Tonight's beer is an English Barleywine, from Colorado's Flying Dog brewery. Barleywines are strong ales brewed with lots of malted grain and hops. This particular beer has an alcohol level of 10.5 percent, which is more than twice the strength of a typical beer. There are also American Barleywines, which are similar to their English predecessors but usually have a lot more hop flavor and bitterness to counterbalance the sweetness you get from using all that malt.

It's a deep, deep amber in color with a small tan head.

It has a sweet aroma of dried fruit like dates. Alcohol notes are also very apparent.

The sweet aroma carries over to the taste. This is a beer with lots of fruity esters and flavors. Figs, dates, raisins and more all mix together.

The body is light, which surprises me. Perhaps the high alcohol level (10.5%) contributes.

Overall a good English Barleywine, but it's so strong and sweet that I would reserve it for occasional drinking.

I'm partial to American barleywines. Some of my favorites are Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot and Rogue's Old Crustacean. I love Bigfoot, which is only available around New Year's. I haven't had Old Crustacean in a while because Rogue quit bottling it in 12-ounce bottles and switched to expensive (think $15) 750 mL ceramic swingtops.

Read my review at BeerAdvocate.