Accessible Barleywines

Honestly, OP, you could probably list All The Barleywines out on a sheet of paper, throw a dart at it and come back with a barleywine that wasn't as bitter/hoppy as Bigfoot.

I've personally never really "gotten" Bigfoot, because the extreme bitterness kills all the things that make barleywines great. Bigfoot is hopped to the extreme even by the generously-hopped standards of American Barleywines. I just don't really like it, although I am sitting on a few bottles of 2013 Bigfoot in hopes that I like it better after some time has passed.

In terms of the LV area, you might try Clown Shoes Crunkle Sam. It's hoppy, but not over-the-top like Bigfoot. The aforementioned Olde School by Dogfish Head is also quite good, although perhaps not quite as traditional with the addition of figs. Lastly, Victory makes a fantastic barleywine: Old Horizontal. That would be my personal recommendation as a place to start.

Disclaimer: my recommendations are based on availability as determined by SeekABrew.

 

Not sure if you get this in your area, but I have heard great things lately

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/25434/149397/

 

Greenflash makes a good, reasonably priced barleywine. You might also want to try Stingo by Samuel Smith, not a barleywine, but is really close and very good.

 

Saw Bell's Third Coast mentioned by @Tripel_Threat, which I thought was an old ale (because Bell's "Third Coast Old Ale" ), but I see it's categorized as an American barleywine on the site; regardless, you may enjoy some old ales and Scotch ales (wee heavies), as the styles can have some overlap with barleywines, but they're generally on the less hoppy side. Some you might enjoy include Backwoods Bastard, Curmudgeon, Old Stock Ale, Skull Splitter, and Wulver - all reasonably available

 

For most people none of these beers are accessible.

 

I'm glad that someone else thinks of Skull Splitter as a barleywine and not a Scotch ale.

 

OP, I do understand concerns about distribution and availability. But I would expect that Anchor Old Foghorn should be readily available. A great starting point if ever there is one.

There's a lot of great beer out there, but if I had to boil it down to a single, widely available beer that should be your next destination--this would be it.

 

If a BW is making you think it's an Imperial IPA, it's a badly made BW.

 

In my experience, Bigfoot needs to sit for 3 years before it starts to taste like a Barleywine. If ya can, try sticking a couple 4 packs away and test my theory.

 

Point well taken, but your observation begs the question of why we differentiate between American and English barleywines in the first place. If we say that American barleywines need time to "taste like a barleywine," meaning that the hops fade out, then were they barleywines in the first place?

Hope I'm not coming across as adversarial, but I do find it interesting that we discuss the need to "age" American barleywines, which suggests a difficulty in appreciating their hop-forward nature in the first place.

To your observation, @beertunes, I'll add that I'm not certain it's ever to work out the hoppiness in Old Ruffian. But I'd never dispute that it's an excellent example of an American barleywine.

 

That's a question I ask all the time. Also, it drives me crazy when folks say that a big ImpIPA and a BW are the same thing. I love Sierra Nevada, they make great products, and are a model company, but their habit of over-hopping every style they make rubs me wrong sometimes. And Bigfoot is suspect #1 in that case.

 

They should all be available in Oregon, which borders Nevada. I was talking primarily to the OP.

If he can't find them there, I can tell him where to pick up all four in Seattle within about half an hour.

 

I really like Avery Hog Heaven. I don't see it mentioned much when people are asked to list off their fav barleywines.

I think it's a notch above Bigfoot - a bit sweeter and not quite as hoppy.

 

Personally, I really like Evil Twin Freudian Slip.

 

The way you think, I like it.
Cheers!

 

I wanted to amend my response from earlier today, I was busy at work at the time. Here's a list of other beers suggested in this thread that are probably far less accessible to the OP in Nevada than the list I mentioned. I hope you pointed this out to those folks as well...

Bell's Saturn
Bell's Third Coast Old Ale
Founders Backwoods Bastard
Founders Old Curmudgeon
Thirsty Dog Wulver
Weyerbacher Insanity

Cheers!

 

anchor old foghorn-so underrated

 

Not sure I'd classify Backwoods Bastard remotely close to a Barleywine

 

I'm just quoting others here. I don't know what it is, but it's good.