Blue Point Old Howling Bastard
Blue Point Brewing’s "Old Howling Bastard" named after an infamous local character, this strong ale has plenty of character all its own. Made with English 2 row barley and Vienna malt. Reaching an alcohol content of 10% barleywine should be consumed in moderation. Strong malty caramel flavors balanced by lots and lots of hops. Try this in a snifter or wineglass. The trick is to never forget that after a few glasses you may become the "Old Howling Bastard"
3.4
243 reviews
Patchogue, United States
Community reviews
Dark amber pour with an off white head. Aromas of toffee, dark fruits, and a touch of brown sugar. Flavor is big sweet malts upfront with a touch of floral hops in the finish. Very drinkable, the abv is well hidden. Solid barleywine.
Bottle: The aroma consists of moderate toffee, caramel, honey, brown sugar, light fruit, and some aged citrus hops. It pours a hazy (bordering on cloudy) bright amber with a small off-white head that fades to a thin film outlined by a slightly thicker ring. There is some minimal thin webbing left on the sides of the glass. The flavor starts with toffee, caramel, brown sugar, and light fruit. The finish has some light honey, aged citrus hops, and a touch of alcohol. It’s medium-full bodied with light-moderate carbonation and a slightly sticky mouthfeel. Overall, if you like American Barley Wines, this will be right up your alley. For me, it’s a style that I find that I’m liking less and less over time...just personal preference.
Bottle tasting. Copper/orange with small white head. Very hoppy, with brown sugar, caramel, and booze. Bittersweet. Somewhat offputting cardboard notes. Not my favorite.
deep amber color; sweet malt aroma with dark fruit notes; great sweet malt flavor yet well balanced with some nice floral hops; lots of dark fruit flavors and caramel notes
Bottle - Caramel malts and lots of woody, resinous hops. Clear orange copper with a decent beige head. Orange, caramel, citrus and woody hop notes, slight bit of booze and a nice sweet finish. Not bad, but nothing particularly special.
I received this beer in a trade.
The appearance is a nice semi-golden hazy orange to brown color with a nice one finger white foamy head that concaves nicely leaving a nice clingy lacing.
The smell has a super nice authentic sweetened honey invading with a delicate floral hoppiness that ends up combining slightly with a light grassy/herbal leatheriness. Some tobacco ends up entering in along with some light caramel malts.
The taste takes those previously mentioned flavors and combines to meet a nice bitter to sweet earthiness. There is a decent sweet floral yet honey sweetened aftertaste leading to a dry bitter finish.
On the palate, this one sits about a medium on the body and has a smoother carbonation than I expected for a barleywine. Sipper? Well, one would think since its a barleywine at 10%, but actually, I’m getting a decent sessionable aspect to it.
Overall, I’ve had Bell’s Hopslam over the years and if there’s any barleywine remotely close to that, this would be it. I didn’t find a date anywhere on the bottle. I wish I knew how old this bottle was. Still, I say this was a good beer that I would have again, but am unsure if its a true barleywine.
Bottle. Pours a cloudy orange with medium beige head that quickly dissipates and some lace. Nose of sweet caramel, brown sugar, cardboard, earthy hops. Medium body, very sweet and warming.
Bomber with a bronze gilt label and a creepy looking dude. Brownish-apricot colored beer with a stiff tan head. Big, caramel malty, slightly buttery aroma with a good whack of hops. Strong bittering, prominent ABV, caramel, fairly sweet but that gets masked with the other big flavors. Mouthy, like melted taffy. Long woody-bitter aftertaste. Good brew on a brisk night. New Leaf Market.
Deep amber in color with a large tannish head. Deep dark fruit flavors (raisin, fig) and caramel malt. Strong and full, leading to a punchy finish that includes some hops.
Pours an opaque copper with an almost creamy head. Mild hoppy caramel aroma.
Taste is hop-forward with a hint of sweetness. Hoppiness lingers and becomes somewhat bitter on the finish.
Not my favorite Barleywine-style ale.
22 oz bottle. Hazy brown with a spongy head. Nose is caramel, soft grass and sherry. Creamy body with a resiny tang. Taste is caramel, strawberry jam and bitter grass. Standard hoppy barleywine. Worth a shot if you like Bigfoot.
Pretty standard, yet good tasting barely wine. Lacks the over the top hops and dark fruit undertones, but at the base is still a very decent brew.
Bright yet mild and light version with a 10% ABV kick. Not the deepest flavor profile but pretty good. Smooth and easy to drink.
Draft to taster. Looks decent; light for a BW though. A completely transparent burnt orange with off-white lacing. Smells sweet and malty with notes of caramel and toffee. Tastes like it smells with an average mouthfeel. Solid beer.
Draft at Taps 25, Lansing. Hazy medium orange-brown body, medium dense creamy beige head. Toasty nose with brown sugar and citrus peel hops. Potent body, lots of brown sugars, caramel, and candied malt, backed by vigorous but not dominant citrusy hops. Very sweet, the sugars in conjunction with the citrus peel notes becoming cloying.
Bomber. Caramel in color with a tan head that leaves layers of lacing. The aroma is tropical fruit and toffee. Nice. This is a bit harsh in the flavor and that is always a negative for me. It is also hot with that ABV coming through. There is all kinds of toffee in here and it is tasty.
This poured an amber color with a white head. The aroma contains lots of citrus notes like lemons with some caramel and toffee notes. The flavor is a bit boozy backed up with a ton of hops. There is a malt character hanging around. This is almost like a 50/50 American and English Barleywine split. Overall a little confused but drinkable.
22 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled in late 2012. Pours lightly hazy red-orange color with a 1 finger dense cream colored head with good retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Light spotty lacing clings around the glass. Aromas of big caramel, brown sugar, toast, toffee, biscuit, raisin, floral, pine, light nuttiness, and toasted/floral earthiness; with some light spicy alcohol. Very nice aromas with good balance and complexity of malt, hop, and fruity notes; with good strength. Taste of caramel, toast, biscuit, toffee, brown sugar, raisin, floral, pine, nuttiness, and floral/toasted earthiness. Fair amount of earthy pine bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of caramel, brown sugar, toast, toffee, biscuit, floral, pine, raisin, nuttiness, and toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Damn nice balance and complexity of malt, hop, and fruit flavors; with an excellent bitterness/sweetness balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Light-medium carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a creamy, slick, and lightly sticky mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a light warming noticed after the finish. Overall this is an excellent barelywine. All around great balance and complexity of malt, hop, and fruity notes; and very smooth to sip on for the ABV. A very enjoyable offering.
'11 draft. The pour is hazy with almost a reddish tint. The aroma is mostly oak and some carmel. The taste is a little thin. A decent american barleywine, but nothing too special.
Pours a very nice copper color. Strong yet balanced flavor. Very good. Very strong at 10%ABV
Amazing head and biscuity, caramel flavor. Sweet aroma but bitter finish, very well balanced.
Blue Point Old Howling Bastard is a beer to be drank slowly, and at 10%, you will want to. Fresh aroma of caramel. Pour is light brown with scant head. Taste has some nice hop character but must be drank slowly to detect it, otherwise, you just get an alcohol bite. Old Howling Bastard is a decent barley wine. I am not a big fan of the style, but this one is pretty good as they go.
Sweet hoppy reddish full head wheaty. Not exactly like I thought it would be, but drinkable.
Deep brown coloured body with a light ruby and even violet tint with a small tan head. Aroma of alcohol, pit fruits, caramel, grapes and a bit of earthy malt. Full-bodied; Strong assertive alcohol flavours with some nuts and earth noticeable and quite a bit of pit fruits. Aftertaste shows some mellow banana and clovey yeast flavours with a good alcohol bite, yet refined in the palate. Overall, a nice barley wine with good flavours and a moderate complexity. The only downfall is the size of the bottle - too big for a barleywine. I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from Liqour Outlet in Boonton, New Jersey at Shenandoah National Park on 25-September-2010.
Draft at Mad Fox Brewing’s 3rd Annual Barleywine Festival. Poured a dark orange color with a small white head. Aroma was some sweet, caramel and dried fruits. Citrus hops are in this one, caramel, dried fruits and hops.
Meh...a less than average barley wine, but a decent beer style aside. Aroma was the best thing about this beer. Caramel, milk and lightly roasted malt. Smelled very sweet and chewy. Pour was a nice hazy burnt orange with a one finger off white head. Taste was very thin. Strong sweet caramel, pepper and toffee in the beginning. The beer thins out mid swallow and leaves the mouth sweet and wet once it’s gone. There’s a little hint of bitter hops on the top of the mouth in the finish, but for the most part it’s gone when it’s gone. Nice carbonation but it doesn’t pull this beer out of mediocrity.
Pours, thick unclear amber with a creamy medium sandy white head. The aroma is thick, syrupy, almost peach notes from the malts. The body is pretty thick, but about par for the style, with big sweet, syrupy malt flavors.
Bottle. Pours a mostly clear dark amber color with a very slight red tinge. Nose has a hint of sweet with some alcohol notes. Taste is actually a bit dry, thought malty. Interesting brew...
bomber rec’d in trade from beer bill; agenda one year. great aroma - citrus, honey, caramel. cloudy amber pour. taste is SWEET; cloying. still finding my way on barley wines; this was too sweet for me
As with any barley wine, esppecially the american varieties, this needs to be aged. Mild smell of sweet attractive perfume. Makes me nervous. A little darker than a pale ale but the lacing is simply very nice and titlating. Fun and almost see thru, yeah. Taste is somewhat thick and viscous, mouth coating alky imact happening here. Sweet high alky bullshit fer sure. On tap at the bocktwon, very nice palce, especially the one in monaca yes. American wannah be barley wine, it is what it is but let er rest for a couple of years will yah? Medicinal finish, not fer the typical lager lover. Yes nasty medicinal finish.