A Barley Wine for Every Day

Thank you. This thread started a year and a half ago... and I've had many beer additions since the first post (and still more to come). I would definitely love to try Mirror Mirror. Have you seen any of the new Thomas Hardy's hit the States?

 

Three Floyds Behemoth

OK, I'm back to deal with the backlog of barley wines that I've had but need to post about. Life gets in the way, you know. I hope to add a ton today. Up first is this behemoth.

For starters, Three Floyds packaging makes me smile. Wax... the greatest enemy of fine beer lovers was even welcome in this case since it was metal flake green. This beer label is a homage to Olde Frothingslosh and looks as if George Grosz or Otto Dix redesigned it. I think Randy Mosher might have been involved in designing this label.

The beer is a light brown (the pic makes it look a bit darker). The aroma recalls marmalade. Carbonation is perfect. There's enough to make it interesting, but the feel is soft.

This beer was an immediate "wow." It's fantastic. It's sweet, but not overly so. The alcohol is a bit too present.

This beer is a perfect example of an "American barley wine" that should make the lovers of the English barley wines take notice. This one never feels like an IPA... more like an English ale that possessed some bitterness. The beer is very sweet, but it never becomes cloying, and the overall impression is of richness. It's bittersweet and malty. The hop character quickly comes in for the finish. It's actually pretty balanced in my eyes. There's caramel here.

It's absolutely fantastic.

 

Draai Laag Yodeler

This is an odd one. I'm a total sucker for buying English strong ales with Brett. This one is "Belgian inspired." This is a dark beer with a tremendous amount of foam. The body is very light for its size. There's no real sense of the 13.2% ABV either. It's bourbon barrel aged. The bourbon barrel influence is not at all heavy, but I wish it wasn't there at all because it represents a conflict of interest for me. I wouldn't guess Brett specifically in this case. There's a sour element that blends with the sweetness for something unique. There's a burnt sugar sweetness that recalls the influence of Belgian candy sugar.

 

Goose Island Brewery Yard Stock Pale Ale

Whoa. This is big one for me. This beer is a collaboration between Goose Island and Ron Pattinson. It's a marriage made in heaven. How many other breweries would collaborate with Ron Pattinson and have the resources to barrel age a beer like this? I'm sure Ron realized this and took advantage. Good for him. Together, they attempted to recreate (to the best of their ability) an English stock ale from the 19th century... cost be (almost) damned. Historically, these pale ales were brewed with lots of hops and were aged in oak casks in the brewer's yard (outside!). Brett should be evident, but wood shouldn't. IBUs are 62. ABV is 8.4%. Malt is floor malted English pale... hops are English Golding and US Cluster. It was aged for 10 months with Brett (but not outside in a Chicago climate).

This beer immediately recalls a saison for me (which is a very interesting thing in terms of beer style and history). It's as if Fantome made a Brett IPA. The hops have been drowned out (by this point) by the Brett. The aroma suggests more acidity than the taste. This beer is bright. There's the Brett pineapple flavor. The malt presence is light. It's delicious.

I didn't know what to expect and I couldn't have predicted this exactly. I'm surprised by how much I love drinking this. I wish it was fresher but that ship has sailed. An important beer that deserved lots of attention (in a perfect world).

@patto1ro

 

Avery Maharaja

This beer was a hazy dark amber. It flirts with American barley wine territory depending on what you use as a reference point. It's bright. It has a long resinous finish. There's apricot and caramel... and grapefruit upfront. It's balanced between sweet and bitter with both being amped up really high.

 

Mikkeller Frelser

This one goes out to @Wasatch

This is a sacrilegious beer. This one, a "trippelbock holy ale" at 11%, might be a lager, but it fits the drinking experience of a barley wine really, really well. It's brewed with wheat, sugar, and the usual at De Proef. It's a little intimidating at first. The carbonation is very low. It's extremely dark. There's an astringent bitter finish. Booze is apparent. The malt is very sweet. There's a tug of war between the malt and the bitterness, but the bitterness ends up winning. The body is very light. After the first two swigs, I thought this was going to be a rough drink, but I ended up warming up to it a lot. I even found it endearing eventually. It's a little liked a smoked roasty porter.

 

Revolution Straight Jacket

This one has a lot of acclaim. It was Paste's number 1 barley wine. It's a beer for a barrel lover. There are huge nutty notes from the barrel. It's sweet. This brown beer is clearer than the picture suggests. I feel every inch of the 12.2% ABV. It's a bit rough. The hops are absent except for their balancing act. This one tastes of dates and raisins.