Beer - Style Sheet: Barleywine

This month’s style sheet explores a challenging but rewarding style. Barleywine is one of the strongest, both in flavor and alcohol content, of any beer style. It is perfect for sipping on cold winter nights with dessert (or as dessert). The style originated from early brewers making several batches from the same grains. The first boil produced the most sugars for fermentation and was used to make strong ales and barleywines. Subsequent boils were used to produce “common” beers and “small” beers intended for everyday consumption.

Barleywines are usually dark brown or amber in color. A rich malt profile and a high alcohol content are the defining characteristics of barleywines, which often exhibit brandy- or port-like tones of dark fruit and warming alcohol. Caramel, toffee, chocolate, and vanilla flavors are often present as well. As is found with other British ale styles, the American varieties tend to be hoppier and stronger than their historical antecedents.

English-style barleywines are typically sweet and fruity, with a round, balanced character. Hop presence is low to moderate, with spicy, grassy hops playing the leading role. American versions are more likely to use high-alpha American hops that provide a citrusy or piney aroma and taste. Both styles are full-bodied and low in carbonation, giving them a luscious mouthfeel. They are best served at cellar temperature (50-55o) to allow the complex flavors and aromas to emerge.

Because of their high alcohol content and intense flavors, barleywines are well-suited for cellaring, which mellows the character and allows the flavors to blend. Some varieties can be aged for as long as 10 years. Collectors often purchase many bottles of yearly vintages for vertical tastings, saving them to have one each year to see how they age. This is one case where an old beer is not necessarily a bad beer.

If you’d like to try an English-style barleywine, there are few choices available in Georgia that are actually made in England. You may run across Ridgeway Brewing’s Criminally Bad Elf or Young’s Old Nick, but J. W. Lees is the most readily available example and also one of the best. Vintages of their Harvest ale going back years can be found on the shelves, along with the Harvest aged in a variety of casks including port, sherry, and whiskey. I recently had a 2004 vintage aged in Calvados barrels (Calvados is a French brandy made from apples). This is definitely a sweet ale, vinous and silky smooth, with a strong aroma of brandied fruit and spice, and a taste loaded with rum raisin, toffee, and chocolate oranges (you know, the kind you get at Christmas?). Swedish brewery Nils Oscar makes a quite different English-style barleywine that is amber and clear, with a sweet-bread flavor, a strong citric hop character, and a more lively mouthfeel. Several American breweries make English-style barleywines, including Flying Dog’s Horn Dog, Brooklyn’s Monster Ale, and, coming soon to Georgia, Duck-Rabbit Barleywine.

Among the most well-known American-style barleywines is Sierra Nevada Bigfoot, a seasonal offering for many years. Its huge hop aroma and flavor are characteristic of the American style. Victory Brewing Company has recently introduced its Old Horizontal Barleywine to the Georgia market. This is a well-balanced interpretation, with a nice grapefruit and spruce hop presence and a complex malt sweetness that features flavors of burnt caramel, brandy, fig, and burgundy grapes. Another excellent example of an American-style barleywine is Great Divide’s Old Ruffian. This is a massive hop and malt bomb with a boozy aroma of Grand Marnier and 10.2% ABV, but it is well blended to highlight the piney, citrusy bitterness of the hops and the caramel and macerated fruit sweetness of the malt. Not for the faint of heart.

Talking Head columnist Jeff Holland can be reached at jeff.holland@creativeloafing.com.