Blind BA English Barleywine Tasting

Discussion in 'The Bar' started by surlytheduff, Feb 23, 2012.

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  1. surlytheduff

    surlytheduff Initiate (0) Jul 22, 2010 Tajikistan

    Hello everyone,

    Thought I'd share the results of a blind tasting I did last weekend with a couple friends. The subject of the tasting was barrel aged English barleywines. All were reasonably fresh. Here was the lineup:

    -Hoppin Frog BA Naked Evil
    -Pelican Mother of All Storms 2011
    -Drydock Bligh's Barleywine
    -Kuhnhenn Bourbon Barrel Barleywine 2011
    -Goose Island King Henry
    -Firestone Walker Sucuba (Abacus b.2)

    [​IMG]

    Beer was poured by my wife into numbered cups, one at a time. Participants in the tasting were myself, my pal (tasting was a surprise for his birthday), and his wife. The latter two both really enjoy barleyines in general. Scoring was done by lining up glasses in a grouping per drinker along their fireplace mantle, in order of preference.

    Now, the results:
    Code:
            [Me]    [Pal1]  [Pal2]
      ---------------------------
1st:    KH      KH      KH
2nd:    BA NE   MoaS   Sucuba
3rd:    Blighs  Blighs  BBBW
4th:    MoaS    Sucuba  Blighs
5th:    BBBW    BA NE   MoaS
6th:    Sucuba  BBBW    BA NE
    So, there you go. Small sample size, and by the end of the tasting our judgement could definitely be considered questionable (as evidenced by us sporting the shutter shades below). There was though absolute agreement on King Henry being the best of the night. For me, I had KH clearly first, with BA NE and Blighs real close to one another next, with the MoaS alone in the middle and BBBW and Sucuba grouped close together at the bottom. Having said that, the bottom of this group of beers though was not a bad place to be - all were very tasty.

    As a sidenote, these six beers mixed together make for one amazing tasting beer.

    Cheers!
     
    #1 surlytheduff, Feb 23, 2012
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  2. JRod1969

    JRod1969 Maven (1,290) Nov 23, 2010 New York
    Trader

    Fantastic post. I plan to replicate when I get some Blighs and BBBW. Thanks!
     
    #2 JRod1969, Feb 23, 2012
  3. UCLABrewN84

    UCLABrewN84 Initiate (0) Mar 18, 2010 California

    I am going to be a part of a very similar tasting in the near future. Looking forward to it.
     
    #3 UCLABrewN84, Feb 23, 2012
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  4. aasher

    aasher Grand Pooh-Bah (4,557) Jan 27, 2010 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah

    I still maintain that the Mother of All Storms is superior to all. I hope when I open my King Henry it won't be as boozy as the first time I opened a bottle.
     
    #4 aasher, Feb 23, 2012
  5. SneezyAchew

    SneezyAchew Initiate (0) Feb 18, 2009 Massachusetts

    Only three people participated in this tasting?!?!?! Kudos.
     
    #5 SneezyAchew, Feb 23, 2012
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  6. ehammond1

    ehammond1 Initiate (0) Jul 4, 2008

    You most certainly will be. Our lineup includes all those, except the Kuhnhenn (ISO if anyone would like to make an offer, I'm sure I can work something out to make you smile!).
    Ours will also include:
    Schmaltz HeBrew Genesis 15:15,
    Stone Old Guardian aged in Bourbon Barrels,
    Uinta Cockeyed Cooper, and maybe another surprise bottle or two....though we will have more than 2x the # of drinkers.
    Kudos to you!
     
    #6 ehammond1, Feb 23, 2012
  7. steebo777

    steebo777 Initiate (0) Jun 30, 2009 Michigan

    Yeah, the rest of the SE Mich BAs were doing a massive tasting at my house the same night. I guess Mike's too cool for us (as evidenced by them sporting the shutter shades above).
     
    #7 steebo777, Feb 23, 2012
  8. Mebuzzard

    Mebuzzard Grand Pooh-Bah (4,302) May 19, 2005 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    A group of us in Denver had a blind tasting....although it wasn't blind :slight_smile: We had about 12 people and almost all put Sucaba as "disappointing". Mirror Mirror took last. King Henry and Bligh's fought for "best in show", but I kinda liked MoaS and Backcountry's BA Old Beer Wagon.

    http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/denver-tasting.334/
     
    #8 Mebuzzard, Feb 23, 2012
  9. cbeer88

    cbeer88 Initiate (0) Sep 5, 2007 Massachusetts

    Genesis 15:15 is legit, but a bit of an oddball with the fruit. If you need to knock something off, don't hesitate to exclude him.
     
    #9 cbeer88, Feb 23, 2012
  10. cbutova

    cbutova Grand Pooh-Bah (3,059) Oct 10, 2008 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I had Mother of All Storms and King Henry side by side and I agree that MoaS is slightly superior. I thought that MoaS was way more balanced and didn't rely on the Bourbon as much to make it great. I felt like the actual Barleywine came through and the Bourbon just blended in to add complexity. I thought King Henry was delicious but it was just like drinking amazing Bourbon and then the Barleywine. I found my love for MoaS similar to The Abyss, tons of different flavors and nothing really dominates, a great balanced blend. I found King Henry to be like the Bourbon Countys, boozy and delicious Bourbon flavor.
     
    #10 cbutova, Feb 23, 2012
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  11. Levitation

    Levitation Initiate (0) Aug 7, 2009 California

    you guys got sucaba before we did? of course you did.... sigh

    i don't think i've heard of bligh's, interesting to see it rated so highly. might have to check it out. neat results!
     
    #11 Levitation, Feb 23, 2012
  12. stupac2

    stupac2 Pooh-Bah (2,031) Feb 22, 2011 California
    Pooh-Bah

    Subaba landed here in bottles pretty recently. Draft it was here weeks ago, though.
     
    #12 stupac2, Feb 23, 2012
  13. Pahn

    Pahn Initiate (0) Dec 2, 2009 New York

    re: sucaba, i know someone in LA got 2 bottles around feb 17th (my friend's coworker, who i don't think is even that into beer but somehow knew that sucaba was available at a certain store). don't know the store, but just saying i'm sure it's been out in cali for awhile.
     
    #13 Pahn, Feb 23, 2012
  14. Levitation

    Levitation Initiate (0) Aug 7, 2009 California

    stupac2, pahn - san diego is a different metro from bay area / la, but i appreciate the info. i'm not sure if it made it here at all. my comment was mostly in humor anyway. :slight_smile:
     
    #14 Levitation, Feb 23, 2012
  15. bigdaddypolite

    bigdaddypolite Maven (1,303) Mar 2, 2007 Minnesota
    Trader

    Wow, this is very similar to our completely blind tasting (and results) from a few weeks back that I posted on the old forums. There were 8 of us, and we had same 6 bottles as you, plus 4 others. Most notable strong performer not included in your tasting was Alpine Great. If old forums are ever restored, you can see the full details there, but results were as follows:
    #1: GI King Henry - 29 Points
    #2: Dry Dock Bligh's Barleywine -17 Points
    #3: Alpine Great 2009 - 12 Points
    #4: Hoppin' Frog BA Naked Evil - 7 Points
    The Rest
    Schlafly's Reserve BW
    Sebago Single Batch Barleywine
    Town Hall Brewery Twisted Jim 2009 Growler
    Mother of All Storms 2011 - 0 Points
    FW Abacus - 0 Points
    Khunhenn BBBW 2010 - 0 Points
     
    #15 bigdaddypolite, Feb 23, 2012
  16. stupac2

    stupac2 Pooh-Bah (2,031) Feb 22, 2011 California
    Pooh-Bah

    I figured, but would still be quite surprised if it weren't actually there yet.
     
    #16 stupac2, Feb 23, 2012
  17. Rochefort10nh

    Rochefort10nh Pooh-Bah (1,840) Sep 30, 2005 New Hampshire
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I really, really liked Bligh's. It gets progressively better as it warms bringing out more of the Strahan's. It is borderline cloying, but stops short of inducing diabetes:wink:
     
    #17 Rochefort10nh, Feb 23, 2012
  18. oreo

    oreo Initiate (0) Jul 29, 2010 Illinois

    I love seeing KH on the top. It truly is the best barleywine I have ever had. Well maybe Great might take it down, but close! :grinning:
     
    #18 oreo, Feb 23, 2012
  19. kzoobrew

    kzoobrew Initiate (0) May 8, 2006 Michigan

    I will not argue with anyone who puts KH on the top of a list. IMO Abacus and MOAS deserved to be mentioned right along side. They are all great beers, I understand personal preference, but I cannot easily choose one over another. BA Naked Evil deserves a lot of attention as well, Hoppin Frog does not normally blow me away but did here.
     
    #19 kzoobrew, Feb 23, 2012
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  20. oreo

    oreo Initiate (0) Jul 29, 2010 Illinois

    Having the MOAS and abacus side by side blind with KH certainly proved where they belong on my list. Directly under KH. :slight_smile:
     
    #20 oreo, Feb 23, 2012
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