Barleywine Appreciation Thread (2022)

Discussion in 'The Bar' started by DIM, Jan 4, 2022.

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Which type of Barleywine do you prefer?

  1. American

    97 vote(s)
    17.0%

  2. English

    295 vote(s)
    51.8%

  3. That's like asking me to choose my favorite child, I love them all!

    162 vote(s)
    28.5%

  4. Neither, if Barleywine is life then life has no meaning.

    15 vote(s)
    2.6%
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  1. DIM

    DIM Grand Pooh-Bah (4,788) Sep 28, 2006 Pennsylvania
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    At the beginning of winter I had my extensive Bigfoot vertical and not much else in the barleywine category. I've gone on an extensive buying spree of late because of my insatiable thirst for barleywine. I organized it all last night, this is most of it. Hy last Hair of the Dog order is still on the way.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    This isn't a collection, except for the Bigfoot, these will mostly be empty within a year I expect.
     
    #521 DIM, Mar 3, 2022
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2022
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  2. Beersnake

    Beersnake Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,884) Aug 17, 2013 California
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Very nice!
     
    #522 Beersnake, Mar 3, 2022
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  3. thebeers

    thebeers Grand Pooh-Bah (5,837) Sep 10, 2014 Pennsylvania
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    [​IMG]
    Tree House Tree of Life Vanilla

    Making bad decisions on a week night.

    This brew pours a ruby-hued, near-black color with a thin khaki head that rocket fizzes away into nothingness.

    Big vanilla and sarsaparilla dominate the nose with maybe a little chocolate, toffee and leather behind.

    Massive vanilla continues in the taste, where it’s coupled with gooey caramel, root beer and creamy chocolate. Sweet, rich and dessert-like.

    Full bodied, sticky feel with just enough fizz cutting through.

    The vanilla is too-heavy handed and the flavors too sweet for my taste. Loved the coffee version, and bet a cuvee would be very tasty. It just needs a little bitterness to balance against all that rich sweetness.
     
    #523 thebeers, Mar 4, 2022
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  4. VodkaPong87

    VodkaPong87 Pooh-Bah (2,060) Oct 9, 2020 Connecticut
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I thought it was pretty good, but yes a little too sweet. Did you manage to get cans of the most recent standard Tree of Life? I thought it was a very well done
     
    #524 VodkaPong87, Mar 4, 2022
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  5. thebeers

    thebeers Grand Pooh-Bah (5,837) Sep 10, 2014 Pennsylvania
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    I did get some regular. Haven’t tried it yet. Loved the coffee, which I thought had a great balance.
     
    #525 thebeers, Mar 4, 2022
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  6. VodkaPong87

    VodkaPong87 Pooh-Bah (2,060) Oct 9, 2020 Connecticut
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Didn’t think a BW could produce a head like this. Whoops

    [​IMG]
     
    #526 VodkaPong87, Mar 4, 2022
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  7. Spade

    Spade Pooh-Bah (2,568) Mar 27, 2006 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    [​IMG]

    I found a few single bottles of this a few weeks back and decided 11:30 on a Saturday was a good time to open one. Nice, complex flavor with some bitterness in the finish.
     
    #527 Spade, Mar 6, 2022
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  8. alucard6679

    alucard6679 Savant (1,009) Jul 29, 2012 Arizona

    I miss barleywine…. I know it’s still out there, but compared to what I used to be able to get in my area I feel like it might as well be a dead style (aside from Bigfoot and Sucaba, when they come around). I used to really enjoy Alesmith Old Numbskull and Great Divide Old Knucklehead quite a bit.
    Not sure if this is just AZ beer distribution, but the popularity of the style seems to have waned considerably. Makes me sad.
     
    #528 alucard6679, Mar 6, 2022
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  9. Spade

    Spade Pooh-Bah (2,568) Mar 27, 2006 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    Has anyone tried Iron Hill's Queen of the North barleywine? Their Exton location lists it on tap but I really don't feel like drinking an 11.7 while out and about, and a 32 oz. crowler might be a bit excessive.
     
    #529 Spade, Mar 6, 2022
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  10. DIM

    DIM Grand Pooh-Bah (4,788) Sep 28, 2006 Pennsylvania
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Haven't had that one specifically, but I know they make good ones. May I ask where you live?
     
    #530 DIM, Mar 6, 2022
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  11. Spade

    Spade Pooh-Bah (2,568) Mar 27, 2006 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    I'm near Honey Brook. Never had a barleywine from Iron Hill.
     
    #531 Spade, Mar 6, 2022
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  12. DIM

    DIM Grand Pooh-Bah (4,788) Sep 28, 2006 Pennsylvania
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Can't message you, could you message me?
     
    #532 DIM, Mar 6, 2022
  13. sulldaddy

    sulldaddy Grand Pooh-Bah (5,716) Apr 6, 2003 Connecticut
    Mod Team BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Sampling this west coast barleywine courtesy of a swap with @zdraco Thank you!! Been eyeing this one up and feeling like a big barleywine after hosting a slumber party for my 12 year old daughter and 7 of her friends....wow, Im tired. But she had a lot of fun, so all worth it! this is Ecliptic Orange Giant, a 2020 vintage.
    Ive got a lot of barleywines to consume so may be back here again next weekend.
    Onto my review:

    [​IMG]
    Sampling a 16 oz can poured at cellar temp into my snifter. Beer has been in the cellar since completing a trade to obtain it.
    The beer pours chestnut to copper color with some lazy streams of carbonation rising to the surface. Also there is a bit of very fine particulate suspended in the beer column. I poured carefully, but apparently still a little sediment came in.
    A large fluffy khaki colored head foams up and actually overtops the glass, but doesnt spill out. Nice looking head on this beer! Foam leaves windowpane lattice as it fades during the sampling, but I always have a bit of a surface covering.
    Aroma is a balance of hops and malt. I get some toffee and caramel but also a bit of citrus rind and some pine sap. There is also a little boozy note behind the other scents.
    First sip reveals a lighter body than I anticipated, but it is still featuring a sticky mouthfeel. A bit of coating on my lips and palate on each sip. Very fine and gentle carbonation adds only the slightest tingle as the beer rolls across my mouth.
    Flavor is what I anticipate after the nose. There is some caramel and toffee and some light fruit, but the finish rolls to some rindy grapefruit and pine sap biting hop finish. The finish is dry and the bitterness lingers after each sip. I dont get any ABV warmth or black pepper bite so the booze is hidden on flavor. Finish is also kind of dry and the bitterness definitely lingers long after I swallow the beer.
    I know there has been debate over what actually makes an English vs an American barleywine. This seems to be American for sure, not quite Bigfoot bitter, but its got a bite. I enjoy this barleywine quite a bit, glad to have tried it.
    4.28 in the BA DB
     
    #533 sulldaddy, Mar 7, 2022
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  14. pegraves

    pegraves Aspirant (271) Dec 30, 2017 Arizona

    I was a President's Day weekend regular at the Toronado when they had their Barleywine Festival. It's where I learned to love Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot Ale. A buddy of mine collected them for years and we were lucky enough to have a 1999-2016 vertical tasting. It was amazing. Yes, the 1999 or was it 1997 held up. 2012, irrc was a notable year as well. Yes, as long as the barleywine is not overly carbonated and isn't overly "barrel aged" (I enjoy bourbon, but I haven't found a beer yet aged in bourbon barrels I have enjoyed yet), that's my style. I could be wrong.
     
    #534 pegraves, Mar 7, 2022
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  15. DIM

    DIM Grand Pooh-Bah (4,788) Sep 28, 2006 Pennsylvania
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Did you like the barleywine from the extreme beer box? I'm with you on Bigfoot, one of the best bargains in beer. I've got tons in the basement dating back to 2011.
     
    #535 DIM, Mar 7, 2022
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  16. pegraves

    pegraves Aspirant (271) Dec 30, 2017 Arizona

    Not yet. I am waiting on a friend to show up so we can opine together. I can be pretty awful when sampling beers alone. I have been known to take one sip and dump the rest before giving it a chance. So I figure if I am with a friend, we can talk about the product before I just dump it. I haven't opened my extreme box yet. I need to get on that as most beer doesn't like to sit around very long. I could be wrong.
     
    #536 pegraves, Mar 7, 2022
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  17. DIM

    DIM Grand Pooh-Bah (4,788) Sep 28, 2006 Pennsylvania
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    King Elizabeth, a really nice no frills hybrid barleywine.

    [​IMG]

    Great story behind the name.
    [​IMG]

    I'll try the barrel aged version soon.
     
    #537 DIM, Mar 8, 2022
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  18. lucius10

    lucius10 Pooh-Bah (2,556) Aug 1, 2017 California
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    [​IMG]

    Cellarmaker out of San Francisco continues to impress in the barleywine dept.! A fantastic BBA Barleywine and Munichwine blend. Fantastic!
     
    #538 lucius10, Mar 8, 2022
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  19. jbakajust1

    jbakajust1 Pooh-Bah (2,552) Aug 25, 2009 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

    Which Alesong Maestro version is that?
     
    #539 jbakajust1, Mar 9, 2022
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  20. DIM

    DIM Grand Pooh-Bah (4,788) Sep 28, 2006 Pennsylvania
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    2021 version, aged in freshly emptied Heaven Hill barrels. No wine barrels this year. 13.2% abv.
     
    #540 DIM, Mar 10, 2022
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