Victory - Old Horizontal Barleywine

This Victory Barleywine has been sitting in my fridge, smiling up at me for over a week now.  This is an 11% booze-bomb, so I'll be sipping this slowly on this cold MN monday evening.

The label shows a sleeping, horizontal moon wedge over a small cabin - there is a little description on the side of the label that helps explain it a little better (see picture below).  This beer pours a thick, viscous, hazy brown with some red hues against the light.  It leaves a thick two inch tan head after a relatively light pour.  The aroma throws waves of sweetness at me - sweet caramel, butter, candied dark fruits, and alcohol.

The flavor brings a heavy dose of sweet malts that hit with a blast.  It transitions smoothly into buttered bread and caramel candy, and at the same time a hop bitterness appears but only as a side-thought.  The finish is WARM with alcohol - very boozy but it doesn't hurt - it's complimentary and helps anchor the sweetness that dominates.  The dark fruits that appeared in the nose are also present in the finish, but not too pronounced.  This is a bottle-conditioned ale, and they nailed it - perfect amount of carbonation.  The mouthfeel is thick and syrupy, but the finish is pleasantly dry.

Overall Rating:  (4.6 out of 6.0)  Overall this was a nice barleywine.  At 11% and loaded with sweetness, it needs to be enjoyed slowly and I wouldn't recommend driving a motorized vehicle... post-Old Horizontal.  Pick this one up, and I recommend cellaring for a year or two - it will probably age well.