Left Hand Widdershins - Oak Aged

Thanks for purchasing another offering in our Big Mo’ Series. Widdershins, our counterclockwise biennial barleywine aged in oak casks reveals fruity notes of orange and apricot upon a foundation of oak, garlanded with earthy hoppiness. Our answer to waning daylight and frigid temperatures can be enjoyed immediately or saved in your cellar for a snowy day. Cheers!

Bottle Conditioned

25% Aged in Oak Cask

2013 vintage - 10.7% abv

3.5

327 reviews

Longmont, United States

Community reviews

3.5 Bottle at Cotteridge wine convention; hazy light copper pour with a thin bubbly white head, orange aroma, taste has citrus action, caramel, vanilla, bitter finish.

3.1 Bottle at cotteridge tasting 24/1/15, cheers! Slightly hazy mid amber sweet caramalt, lraflitter, slightly soapy bittersweet, medium body low carbonation

3.6 660ml bottle. Pours dark orange brown with a small head. Aroma is caramel and toffee. Taste has toffee and bourbon.

3.5 Bottle at Cotteridge Tasting, Saturday 24th January 2015 Orange in colour with a rim of white bubbles, thick in mouth, hoppy, bittersweet, pleasant beer, struggling to keep up with pace may bail out soon. A6 A4 T7 P4 Ov14 3.5

4.1 Bottle. Archer Road Beer Stop, Sheffield. Clear, copper colour. Cream coloured, bubbly head, that turns filmy. Dried fruits. Cherry chocolates. Spicy hop. Hint of green hop. Taste is boozy sweet. Turns dry, and grassy bitter. Slick palate. Plenty of chew. Drinks way under the ABV. Finishes boozy sweet. Light dry. Long lasting, vine fruit bitter. Really enjoyed this.

3.6 Pours a brown color with a light white foam head. Aroma is oak, caramel, and dark fruits. Flavor is heavier on the oak, with some caramel and hints of dark fruit. Body is a little thin. Overall this is pretty good, with the oak giving it lots of flavor and character.

3.2 Amber / copper body with a small khaki head. Aromas of alcohol, malt, candied fruit. Sweet and boozy. Cotton candy, hard candies. A hint of bitterness in the finish. This is ok. A small sample is plenty.

3.2 On tap at Black Squirrel’s Michigan beer event during DC Beer Week 2014. Clear orange with lacinh white head. Nose has heavy malt, heavy sugar, honey comb, some orange peel, mild soap. Flavor is sticky sweet, honey, malt, vanilla, caramel, hints of booze, marshmellow. Full, sticky, boozy finish.

3.8 Barrel aging smoothes out his beer, enhancing its drinkability, taste and aroma. Excellent all around, high ABV lurks around in the background without forcing itself upon you.

3.5 2007 bottle Hazy orange amber color. Bottle had a lot of sediment. Half finger of off white head that fell to a collar. Carbonation has held up quite well. Nose is soft oak, brown sugar and dark fruits. Good nose for the age. Taste is a bit thin. Some oak, brown sugar, caramel and fruit. Carbonation is perky for the age but it has thinned out a lot. For a 7 year old 9% beer it was quite tasty though

3.1 ;pours amber, almost no head. aroma is oak, caramel resin and malt. flavor not as oaky as I thought it might be. resinous up front, with toffee and cherry. medium body with a bitter finish. okay but not overly impressive.

3.5 Bottle - Orange and oak with a caramel base. Clear copper with a thin white head. Orange, apricot, woody oak with light hoppy bitterness. Pretty decent, but a bit of bitterness in the finish. Vintage 2007 - Caramel, butterscotch and raisin. Cardboard, butterscotch and past its prime. Still drinkable though.

3.6 Pours clear orange, some decent head, and a medium to thick body. Alcohol is hidden by the vanilla and dirt notes of the oak, some musty citrus and dark fruit.

3.5 Bomber bottle. Aroma is the sweet, malty barley wine smell. Some almost cherry as well. Appearance is a deep bronze with little to no head. Taste starts barley wine with a dry oak note. The aftertaste is very cherry. Overall, a very interesting beer. Would like to age one more, or see them do this beer in the oak barrels with actual cherry purée.

3.5 Pours a golden dark amber with thin head. Aroma pulls in hot alcohol . Taste is caramel and toffee and alcohol

4.2 Bottle at a friends house. From notes. Loads of caramel, toffee, oak and citrus.

3.3 Bottle: The aroma consists of moderate fruit, lighter smoke, caramel, brown sugar, and light oak. It pours a mostly transparent fiery amber with a decent amount of suspended sediment. It has a one finger khaki head that quickly fades to a soapy film. There is some sporadic webbing left on the sides of the glass. The flavor starts with starts with moderate caramel, brown sugar, and fruit. The finish has light-moderate smoke, grapefruit/citrus hops, and light oak. It’s medium-full bodied with mild carbonation and a slightly sticky mouthfeel. Overall, it’s not bad in a small dose, but a full bomber quickly wore on me. Calling it a smoked Barley Wine would probably be more appropriate.

3.4 Bottle. Pours a clear dark honey brown with a white head that dissipates to the edges. Aroma is full of sweet grains with a hint of smoke and a backing oaky note. Flavor starts full of sweet grains and caramel with some backing oak and a hint of smoke.

3.3 [Tap] Draught at a recent Left Hand tap takeover. Unsure of the vintage of this beer, as it was not listed. Pours a deep garnet color with a large cap of beige foam on top. Sweet caramel, oak wood and dusty hop aroma. Light alcohol in the nose. Moderate levels of bitterness. Taste includes sweet molasses, brown sugar, honey and dough. Faint dark fruits. Sweet and borderline cloying finish. Sticky mouthfeel. Just OK.

3.3 2013 vintage. 650 ml bottle poured into snifter. Beautiful clear orange with a smidgeon of silky off-white head. Very little head retention or lacing and very light carbonation. Earthy aromas of caramel, grass, corn, dried apricot and alcohol. Flavor is sweet cereal up front transitioning into the woody and smoke characteristics with a lingering bitter finish and some alcohol warmth. This was solid, but nothing about it really grabbed me. In all fairness, I could’ve let it age.

4.1 2013 vintage. A relatively hoppy American BW. I like the smokey oak and coating malt character. Spent over an hour on a bomber bottle from 53deg to room temp. Alcohol builds with temp, but never overpowers. Pours with little to no head, clear. I like : )

4.0 Draft at Khyber Pass. Tulip. Nearly clear orange copper pour with a large frothy marshmallow white head. Feels like a reduced English bitter married with an unexpectedly smokey hop bomb. Smoked maple syrup. Dark blonde tannins. Golden raisins. Burnt Challah. Elephant ear mushrooms. Blood orange peels. Lots of earthy, spicy pine. Big and boozy. Nicely complicated.

3.3 This beer starts in England and ends with an American finish. In the nose, peat overwhelms the senses with dried fruits and burnt sugar lingering behind. The palate is similar with flavors akin to that of an English barley wine, only with overtones of peat. It finishes abruptly with a sharp drying bitterness. Overall this beer has allot of bold flavors but just doesn’t seem to harmonize maybe some age would help.

3.7 Pours clear copper with a thin white head. Aroma is molasses and sweetfeed for cattle with a little oak barrel. Taste is grains and oak with a slight sweetness. A very clean tasting barle wine. Not bad.

3.5 Bottle. Orange, raisin, and caramel malt aroma. Cloudy amber with small head. Woody orange/raisin, caramel malt and moderately bitter herbal/alcohol flavor. Light body for a barley wine.

3.1 Bottle: Almost clear, red-berry-copper with a tiny off-white ring. Aroma is soft...vanilla, oak, light fruit. Taste is pronounced oak....caramel, alcohol. Not bad, mild for the ABV...but the oak dominates a little too much.

4.0 had on draft at Ibon .. . deep brown .. mild head, strong lacing .. . full mouth .. . long finish .. . Booze, vanilla, and oak goodness! .. . . madness is subjective

3.7 Bomber bottle poured a clear orange hue w/ a one finger fully diminishing beige head. Moderate to bold fruity aroma. Initial flavor is moderate sweet w/ a moderate bitter finish. Tastes are smokey oak, tangerine, malt, and apricot. Full bodied, soft carbonation, and boozy warm finish.

3.4 2013 Vintage, best by November 15, 2018. Appearance: The body is a vibrant mix from orange to copper with particles in suspension. The head is short and dense, but short lived. It settles into a soft light tan coating with a messy ring. Aroma: The aroma leans a bit sweet with some malts: caramel, toast, brown sugar and biscuit. There’s a hint of citrus throughout with a splash of oak and a hint of alcohol. Taste: The flavor is mildly malty with a hint of bitterness and a bit of oak. The malt base gives some sweetness with caramel and toast, backed by oaky tannins and a mild grapefruit bitterness. Nicely balanced, but a bit hoppier than I like the style. The finish is a tad boozy with a warming sensation lingering. Palate: Full-bodied with mild carbonation. Overall: I think that this is a solid beer, but nothing about it grips me. I think that the oak is a bit too strong in combination with the bitterness. I think that this would be better for my palate in a few months once the bitterness fades and the beer becomes a bit sweeter.

3.4 22 ounce bottle. Pours reddish amber with an average beige head. Aroma of malt, fruit, and caramel. Taste is sweet malt, fruit, caramel, vanilla, and some wood. Average.