Beer Review: Old Cellar Dweller, Driftwood Brewery

I got a bottle of 12% Old Cellar Dweller Barleywine Style Ale from my brother-in-law for xmas. I shared it with some friends.

Incredible green hoppy aroma, like opening a fresh bag of freeze-dried hops from the local beer-supply store. After it warmed up a bit, an alcohol smell is noticeable. All in all, no offensive smells.

Tastes like hops and fruit. Can't really taste the barley malt, the alcohol or the yeast underneath. I was hoping for a much more maltier taste, given the description on the bottle. Has an astringent aftertaste, like from an oversteeped black tea.

A nice deep copper colour, but not much of a head. Perhaps there wasn't enough malt/sugar added to the mix, resulting in the under-carbonation and lack of malt taste. Then again, the yeast could have consumed all of the sugars and this is the intended result (all 12% of it).

A similar beer is Hop-Head Ale, but this one is a bit heavier and thicker than that IPA. More of a sipping beer than a "refreshment" beer; 1/3 of a bottle was definitely enough.

http://driftwoodbeer.com/beers/old-cellar-dweller-barleywine/

Rating: 25/31