For the serious beer fan, Barley Wines are the pinnacle achievement of the Golden Age of Microbrews. Built to last, most barley wines are best served years after their inception date. The many hued flavors of the barley wine are known to change, bringing out a variety of different tastes depending on when they are opened. Some barley wines have been known to age well even after 10 years. For this reason, many brew hobbyists collect barley wines of different vintages, as would a conessuier of fine wines.
The term Barley Wine comes from the a seasonal style of beer from England. Usually made in the Fall or Spring, the Barley Wine would be served around October or March. Bass Brewery was the first to coin the term commercially for their No.1 Ale, circa 1900. The earlier version of the barley wine is generally considered to be the “Old Ale”. According to CAMRA, the English organization for the promotion of REAL ALES old ales are a pre-industrial revolution brew that relied upon high alcohol content to keep it from turning to vinegar. Used often as an adjunct to mixed porters to make the beer go farther. While most barley wines are upwards of 7% alcohol, Old Ales can be classified from as low as 4%. In current makes of Old Ale, bottle conditioning is a standard feature.
Two of the finest barley wines I have run across are the Old Guardian from Stone Brewing Company and the Bigfoot Ale from Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. Both of these companies are based the west coast of the United States, but varieties of barley wine are brewed all over the country, and the world. My personal experience ranks Sierra Nevada’s Bigfoot Ale as a fine collector’s item. It seems to age well. At a barley wine tasting I had some of a bottle that was 7 years old, a real treat. It was fine and better tasting than the current year’s. Old Guardian, on the other hand, has the signature hop character of the Stone Brewery, and should be best served within three years, by my knowledge of how hop character disappears with age. It is also one of the lightest of the Barley wines currently available, so if you dislike dark beers, this would be the barley wine for you to try.
Stone breweries also occasionally makes an incredibly powerful ale called “Double Bastard”. This ale is remarkable for its similarity to Stone’s “Arrogant Bastard” ale. I could probably not tell the difference in a taste test, but I wouldn’t bet on it. The shocking thing is that Double Bastard has literally DOUBLE THE ALCOHOL of Arrogant Bastard. Truly, it is a rare and masterfully crafted ale. While I do not know if it is marketed as a Barley Wine, it certainly deserves mention here as one of the strongest beers on the market.
One of the strongest of Barley wines is the Olde School from Dogfish Head Brewery. This Ale comes out at a whopping 15% ABV. Another interesting sounding product is the Bourbon Barrel Barley Wine from Sprecher Brewery. I have had something similar, a bourbon Barrel conditioned cream porter from MacTarnahan’s Brewery. That was a very fine ale, a special release, with vanilla and charcoal overtones and the same creamy goodness that MacTarnahan’s offers in its cream porter.
Of note in the world of barley wines are also the offerings of Anchor and Rogue Brewing Companies, both renowned for the quality of their ales. Rouge’s Old Crustacean is sure to age well over the years, not to mention the interesting bottle, which can be displayed as a worthy drinking trophy! Old Foghorn is Anchor’s brand, a nice dark and rich barley wine.
If you are further interested in Barley Wines, I suggest contacting your local quality liquor store and reminding them that you are interested in these specialty ales. Start your collection today, and in the years to come you will reap the rewards that only a finely aged barley wine can offer you.
