Barleywine, Old Ale, Strong Ale, etc.

This... While at an engagement party yesterday, I had an RJ Rockers Bell Ringer (double pale ale). It wasn't on my untappd list, so I checked it in... this "double pale ale" is listed as an "American Strong ale" on untappd. So I'm going to equate strong ale with just "double pale" from now on.

 

You are making the assumption that your samples of each "style" were representative of the whole.
Martyn Cornell wrote about the subject a few years ago.Like me he thinks that you just can't nail down styles which have been around for so long.Very much worth reading :
http://zythophile.co.uk/2010/09/14/so-what-is-the-difference-between-barley-wine-and-old-ale/
BarleyWine, Wee Heavy and ESB have been assumed to be styles. But they were just names for individual beers when introduced.

 

Old (Stock) Ale traditionally means that a portion of high abv brew was stored in a oak casks from the previous brewing season(s), then blended with fresh beer (usually of a lower abv like a mild or ESB). The Old Stock would kick it up with higher ABV, some woody notes, and maybe some brett. This was done onsite typically, like your bartender would give you a couple inches of Old Stock (probably relatively flat) out of a barrel, then top you off with some presumably more carbed keg or cask ale.

Some places like the Bruery Anniversary beers have used a solera method (only partially emptying the barrels when blending, so in theory some % of the brew is from the original batch). Traditionally brett could get into the Old Stock, so it's not unheard of to get some light brett character (since the fermentation was close to efficient before the beer went into the barrels, it's not as strong as a 100% brett beer).

Strong Ale and Barleywine have tons of overlap. Arrogant Bastard vs Bigfoot, of course there's differences in the brewing choices used, but those are comparable beers IMO/IME.

 

There is a danger of confusing terms from different periods of time. Mild simply meant "not aged" ,it could be and usually was a strong brew. ESB is a name dreamt up by Fuller's for their new beer they were introducing.

 

Good point! I was thinking of the more standard Bitter, did not know ESB was a creation of Fuller's. I actually at one point sold Fuller's along with a couple beers and many wines. We didn't get much training or history on Fullers, most places that carried it had the loyal customers but it was never really featured or something I 'sold' to whoever was making the decisions. It was just kinda there.

 

Actually,Fuller's tried to trade mark ESB but were refused on the grounds that Extra Special Bitter was too general a term.

 

Having a AleSmith Old Ale right now, pretty tasty.

Cheers!

 

Which they renamed and called a "stock ale"... so some things never change.

 

Did not know that.

Cheers!