Sonoran Old Saguaro Barleywine

Medium copper in color and with a suprisingly crisp finish, this beer is meant to be savored like a fine cognac.

3.5

153 reviews

Phoenix, United States

Community reviews

1.9 (22oz bottle, courtesy of blutt59) Pours an amber body with a small off-white head. Aroma of sour apple, cherry, mustiness, and caramel. Flavor of apple, sour citrus, cherry, caramel, and vinegar with a bitter finish. Infected…

3.5 bottle thanks to blutt59. amber with a cream head. infected beer with slight cherry funk scent. quite thick and a decent cherry tartness. guess i rated it as a sour instead of a barley wine.

2.5 bottle thanks to blutt59. poured a hazy amber with a white head. aroma of caramel and fruits. flavor was the same with some sour notes as well. something was wrong with this in my opinion.

3.0 Nose was a little hard to narrow in on. Vege scents from hops and loads of caramel. Poured a reddish brown with a small and quickly dissipated head. Taste was rather sweet, lots of caramel, baking spices (nutmeg, cinnimon), and a slightly nutty finish.

4.1 Bottle thanks to blutt59. Pours a red/brown with off-white head. Aroma of some tart, brett, funk. Flavor is tart, some faint sweetness, and some funk. Mouth feel is medium body with medium carbonation. Overall, this did not taste like a barley wine....I think it may have some infection or wild yeast, but in a good way....tasted nothing like a barley wine.....but this shit was GREAT!!!!!!!

2.1 boittle, pecan colored pour, grapefruity aroma sour grapefruit, aspirin flavors, not a barleywine I would like, maybe a bad bottle but Steve thought that would be tough to do

2.0 Bottle courtesy of blutt59. This bottle may have been infected. Hazy orange pour. Subtle barleywine aroma. A slight bit of sour on the nose. Sour taste, incredibly sour. Smacks of sweet and sour. Not too great.

3.7 bottle. a nice bw. hoppy, and not too sweet or cloying. suprisingly good.

3.5 22oz bottle. Pours a deep rusty copper color with a small beige head leaving some spotty lacing behind. Nose of faint candied peaches and apricots with light herbal hops in the background. Flavor was much of the same with a light acidity in the finish. Pretty much your run of the mill Barley Wine.

3.5 Bottle sampled at DLD ’09. Clear amber pour with a thin white head. Grainy malt and sugary aroma with some dark fruit. Sugary and fruity flavor with a welcome bit of tartness.

3.1 Bottle. Pours clear amber with a rocky, fizzy, off-white head, somewhat lasting with fair lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (cookie, straw, cereal, bread), light hop (grass), average yeast (dough) with notes of cinnamon, spiced apples, nutmeg, pear, and cherries. Full bodied, sticky texture, average carbonation, and an astringent finish. Average duration, light sweetness, moderate acidity and bitterness. Not sure this is a barley wine, more of an American strong ale; still a decent brew.

3.8 Thanks AgentSteve. Poured amber red, tart cherries, caramel, little dark fruits, little malty.

4.0 Apparently I saw things in this beer that many previous raters didn’t. Pours a beautiful copper red with a thin eggshell head. The nose is dried fruits and a hint of cherries and caramel. The flavor is similar but an added dose of tartness as if a sour ale mixed with a barley wine. Very nice finish as if it was aged in oak. Maybe it was a mistake, but how nice a mistake it was! Thanks for this interesting ale, jimbowood.

3.1 Bottle... C&P’sLYFO Throwdown... Cloudy caramel-colored ale. Not much of a head. Caramelly, lactic nose. Full-bodied. Seems to be a bit infected as the chewy caramel base is tainted a bit by misplaced acidity and very effervescent carbonation. Tangy, moderately bitter finish. Not bad, but more care should have been taken in either the bottling or handling of this beer. Video = http://homepage.mac.com/maltajo/RATEBEER/iMovieTheater10.html

2.9 CPLYFO 09. Pours a hazy deep amber almost brown wit a thinning head. Aroma is initially diacetyl- butter all the way through into the flavor- but also some sherry oxidation and a cherry and raisin-like fruitiness. Salty malt flavor, more ox and lots of butter- slick and lifeless aftertaste. Meh.

2.0 bomber from tops... dark copper colored pour is clear with a tiny light tan head. the aroma is fruity... i don’t know specifics but it is some sort of fruit... along with flowers, malt and a ridiculously huge dose of butterscotch-y diacetyl. the unknown fruit makes it’s way into the flavor and meets up with citrus, non resinous pine, spent caramel malt, dry earthy spice and warming alcohol on the finish. the whole time my palate is riddled with sugar and diacetyl/butterscotch... medium to full bodied. it gets a bit sticky, buttery, thick and cloying. dryness tries to fix the problems but low carbonation doesn’t help. it does not move or develop on the tongue and feels rather dead. this reminds me of a really buttery malo chardonnay... hard to drink. 3/3/5/2/7/2.0

3.5 Clear copper with a light tan head. Perfumy floral hop aroma. Smooth rich mouthfeel. Cotton candi sweet flavors with mild pit fruit and metallic notes. Strangly acidic finish. Decent overall.

3.4 Bottle. Pours a a slighlty hazy amber color with a small off-white head. Has a Sweetish roasted malty fruity aroma with some hoppy hints. Sweetish malty caramel and vanilla flavor with some hints of dark fruit. Has a sweetish malty caramel finish with some hints of vanilla.

3.0 Pours a dark amber with a thin white head. Malty, spicy hop aroma with some fruit. Taste is malty syrupy with some brown sugar and a thick mouth feel. Strong abv and a little hot. Not the greatest.

2.4 22oz. Bottle: Aroma of latex paint, dirty laundry, and some hops. Poured orange/amber in color with a small beige head that lasted around the edges. Cloudy. Not sparkling. Medium to heavily sweet flavor. Tastes of malts, hops, caramel, and pine. Light to medium body. Thin, dry texture. Soft to average carbonation. Thin, sweet, hoppy finish is lightly dry.

2.7 22oz from the MJBC. Faintly dingy pour, a washed out amber with little life remaining. The nose is still sharply boozy though, and it tends to be too present in the flavors, washing out any notable character. Thin and over-attenuated.

3.2 Thanks to Ethan for sharing this at the sexual chocolate release. Hazy orange pour. Caramel and over ripe fruity nose. Caramel notes with hints a hops and fruits. Flavor was a little hot

2.4 Burnt orange brew with a 1/2 inch tightly packed eggshell head that left without a trace. Aroma is caramel malt, faint hops, and maybe a little fruitiness. Flavor is, well, not very good. The alcohol is way too dominant...sugary sweet and cloying. Syrupy and dead on the palate. Yuck.

2.6 Bomber courtesy of BOLTZ7555 – thanks Jason! Pours a clear dark amber with a fast fading one finger head. The nose is mainly buttery caramel malts. Taste is the same with some earthy hops in the finish. Flat mouth feel. Not very good – could be infected.

3.5 22 oz. bottle from Plaza Liquors - Pours a clear copper color with a 1/2 finger thick light tan head. Lightly carbonated. Very light spotty lacing. Aroma is sweet fruity esters and lightly toasted malt. Flavor is much of the same. The sweetness lingers a bit in the finish. Medium body. A nice beer.

4.0 pours like a amber onyx color with little head. hugely sweet aroma of dried fruit as well. flavor is a little cloying but balances out fast. hides the alcohol well. really nice bw.

3.1 Courtesy redlight. Slightly cloudy reddish-amber, very little head. Ton of diacetyl on the nose, behind that some balanced sweetness and hops, mostly a buttery fruitiness. Taste follows suit, but some hops come through, finish is very sweet.

3.6 Bomber poured a lightly hazy copper with a small lingering amber head. Aromas of carmel, cognac, bread, toffee, pepper, light fruittiness and light earthiness. Palate was medium bodied and smooth with an oily finish. Flavors of carmel, cognac, earthiness, toffee and light fruittiness and pepper with a smooth oilylightly warming bittersweet finish.

3.0 Courtesy of redlight. Pours a ruddy amber with a slight tan head which quickly fades to nothing. Toffee and butterscotch overwhelm the nose, hard to pick up anything else. Butterscotch and citrus and pine hops, very sweet and bitter end. A little drying alcohol evident in the finish, otherwise med to low carbonation. Seems like there is some diacetyl here, a little too sweet.

3.4 Got this from the Micheal Jackson beer club.Pours kind of orangey brown.Sweet and fruity aroma.Sweet fruity flavor tastes like strawberries and carmel. By the end of the bottle it got a little to sweet. I did enjoy it.