Mean Old John's Barleywine
Alameda Brewhouse

I try not to invest too much enthusiasm in any one particular beer style. It’s somehow more professional to allow for an egalitarian platform that merits all beer styles equally. But when the barleywine season takes hold in Portland I can’t help but think that this particular style is the greatest human invention ever devised.

Case in point: Mean Old John’s Barleywine from Alameda Brewing. This luscious nectar is aged for a full year to mellow its bold contours and achieve a luxuriant complexity of fruity malts and graceful bittering. The clear mahogany body yields an aroma of sweet plums that you wade through as you would a room full of curtains. Each aromatic nuance invites you to explore further, while the taste is unapologetically sweet, malty, fruitful, and compelling.

Mean Old John is actually pretty sweet. It’s also heavy, warm, and inspired. A regal and dignified winter ale from this north Portland brewpub.