Are barleywines easiest to brew?

Well, from a home brew perspective, no -not easy.

http://byo.com/yeast/item/224-big-bad-barleywine

Some comments in the article about commercial operations as well.

 

No, you can definitely brew a bad barleywine. Just sort the BA database of barleywines by rating, and go towards the bottom:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/style/19/?sort=avgD&start=1100

 

Seems like you may be confusing "ease" of brewing manufacture process with your perception of a lack of difference in final product. The above article addresses the former but I would suggest the differences in these huge beers is in ways like appreciating differences in spirits. Up front can present as overpowering but the subtleties are just underneath.

A bit of paradox (to me anyway) is that the beers on the opposite end of the spectrum--the pilsners on one end and the barleywines on the others share a common thread of appreciation of nuance for completely different reasons as opposed to IPAs which are so much more easily characterized by virtue of their overwhelming (and I mean that in a positive sense) hop presence.

 

No. I mean, it's easy to throw a whole mess of grain in the mash tun and end up with a wort around 1.100, ferment it out and there you go, but to brew a good to great one, is much different. You do need to balance your grain ratios, your hopping levels, your fermentation practices and so on to have it come out drinkable versus a hot, boozy mess. Especially when you talk about those big beers, you have to make sure everything is spot on that the yeast do what they need to do, ferment out fully and don't have lots of off flavors. You don't want a ton of hops, but you don't also want all grain.

 

Definitely not. The higher the ABV goes, the more difficult it is to get the yeast to play nice and not throw off weird flavors. Also, beers like barleywines (or pilsners, or stouts, or anything else really without a bunch of adjuncts) have a difficult time covering up off flavors from brewing mistakes. So, if you have a hoppy barleywine with pecans, cacao nibs, and 20 different kinds of specialty malts, you're looking at either a new brewer or someone just screwing around.

Beers brewed to style aren't always easy.

 

I feel like there is a huge range within the category. I don't brew, but I've read that the brewing can be time and labor intensive. I think that it's a style that tends to inspire some brewer's pride, so if you are finding that there aren't many "F uped" ones then this could have something to do with it (if minor).

 

I'll agree with everything mentioned above, but regarding your comment that they all taste alike, if you check the brewery's information for each barleywine that you drink in the future and determine if it is an English version or an American version, you should experience a noticeable taste difference. American versions are hopped at a higher rate, thus a bit more bitterness is detectable, whereas the English version is more toward a malty taste characteristic.

 

It has been alluded to but to brew a quality Barleywine requires a lot of attention to having a healthy fermentation, Aspects like:

• Lots of oxygenaton when pitching the yeast and maybe another dose of oxygen 12 hours post pitching
  
  
• Pitching a ‘shit ton’ of yeast
  
  
• Very carefully monitoring/maintaining the fermentation temperature
  
  
• Etc.

If a healthy fermentation is not achieved a number of ‘bad’ things can occur:

• Perceptible fusel oils (higher alcohols) which can provide a hot/harsh taste
  
  
• Excess amounts of esters (one ester provides a solvent-like flavor)
  
  
• An incomplete fermentation (higher that desired final gravity)
  
  
• Etc.

Cheers!

 

Correct. I'd be curious of a few that @Superflyjsc has drank.

For example, a fresh bottle of Stone's Old Guardian (extremely bitter, hop dominated) is 180 degrees away from JW Lees Harvest Ale (sweet, with toffee, sherry, raisin flavors).

 

That's not entirely true either. At least on a home brew scale, when you hit an OG of around 1.080 your mash efficiency starts to suffer, meaning you have to keep using more and more grain, which, in turn, continues to have a negative impact on mash efficiency. I'd imagine professional brewhouses deal with similar issues, but have great capacity with which to address the problems.

Two personal stories: I once tried to make a rye barleywine, and rye being the way it is, stuck the sparge, so I had to decoct. That threw me way over my predicted efficiency. I don't remember the OG, but the thing ended fermenting out to between 10-11% and tasted like Robitussin spike with cheap vodka.

A more successful story involves me missing my OG because of the above-mentioned efficiency issue. I was aiming for 10% and ended somewhere around 8%. However, it turned out pretty good, and I've still got two bottles left, three years later.

 

I have to disagree. Some of the worst beers I've ever had from any style are drain-pour Barleywines and some of the best beers I've ever had on the planet are Barleywines.

 

Can you mention a couple from both categories?

 

Sure here are my polar opposites for the style.
American BWs
Troegs Flying Mouflan 2.25
Solstice Dittiver - Brassiere Dieu du Ciel = 4.66
Black Frost Bourbon BA - Brewers Alley = 4.59

English
FW Sucuba = 5
Bourbon County BW = 4.69
Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot = 1.5

 

No they aren't easy at all.

 

Will agree--
I have had the great fortune of lots of Olde School a friend has kept in a walking cooler for safe keeping--many several years and just magic. Never had it fresh.
Fresh Bigfoot--always great
Mother of All Storms--incredible

On the neg side
GD BA Old Ruffian--just undrinkable for me

 

I'd say also that barleywines aren't really a popular style to brew. It takes a large amount of ingredients to produce a style that doesn't sell nearly as well as heavy stout or IPA - which may also use a heavy amount of ingredients. So why pay the fee for something that will sell okay, versus something that you could turn over extremely quick. The folks who take the time to brew this style, often do it right.

Then again, I don't know any barleywines I don't like either. Perhaps I've just tried only good ones.

 

Skip the fresh Olde School. I just got some of this year's and it is haaaarsh. I've got a few 2014's laying around and will opt for those should the craving strike again.

 

Outside the amount of grain you have to put in and get back out of the mash tun. The hop additions are straight forward. IT's just a less hoppy dipa. i.e. pack the mash tun to its limit, and pray it doesn't get stuck in the transfer.
If the sugar I choose to add isn't clumpy. The day is a bit longer. That's about it.