Review - AleSmith Brewing Company's Old Numbskull
"Old Numbskull is AleSmith’s first barley wine offering. You may find the name "Old Numbskull" curious. Barley wine has its origins in England and tradition is to begin the name with "Old": Old Nick, Old Sampson, Old Jock, etc. Tongue-in-cheek is often the spirit in naming a barley wine. After drinking a glass or two, you may agree that Old Numbskull feels like a fitting description. It also reminds us of the Three Stooges, one of the greatest comedy teams of all time, so it's meant to bring a smile even before the first taste. Exotic fruit aromas, along with clean ethanol, caramel, honey and toasty notes are present in the nose. At five months of age, the Numbskull flavor begins malty and the hops become more evident from the middle to the finish and linger nicely in the aftertaste. The aroma notes also show themselves in the flavor." -- AleSmith Brewing Company
Take one down, pass it around, 500 reviews of beer. Yes. We've hit a major plateau with the Alesmith - Old Numbskull review. We are grateful to be reaching this mark while hopeful to achieve many more.
The Old Numbskull settles into a medium to dark amber color with a very active hazy body. The small light brown fizzy head completely disappeared and left an oily film on the glass. It was surprising that the dark bottle revealed that it was really green after the contents were poured out. The moderately bitter initial taste evolved into a moderately sweet finish that lasted for a long duration. With lively carbonation and a medium body, the Old Numbskull coated the mouth with an oily film that slowly disappeared leaving a dry, alcohol burn on the palate.
Reviewed on February 17th, 2008.
