Barleywine Appreciation Thread (2023)

No worries!

 

Is that official? Haven't seen any news lately.

 

Glad you liked it. I thought it was pretty good, myself!

 

This is like a less sweet and more bitter VSOJ. Damn good. Have 2 more. Will make sure to age them

 

This has been a 'want'/wishlist for a bit and @Whyteboar made it happen!

Bottled 11.20.22



It's everything I thought it would be/expected and a bit more. Excellent Wheatwine in all areas by my standards

 

LOL, Love the effort Dan!

I have to ask, you previously rated this a 3.58 when you were in your late teens back in 2007. What would your revised score be?
Cheers!
Tom

 

This is still a young one. NoFo Brew Co. in North Georgia makes a terrific American Barleywine called King's Way. This is the barrel aged version. Aged 16 months in Rye Whiskey barrels and checking in at 12% ABV. Full bodied, slick and oily. It's malty and sweet, with dark fruit accented by wood and whisky notes. Nice and warming. Interested to see how it evolves as it ages.

 

I am good with waiting.
Cheers!
Tom

 

Indulging in an old friend! Going out to the WC BA’ers @RaulMondesi and @Resistance88 !

 

It's my third bottle of it. I had the opposite take as you in some ways (which is why I appreciated your post on it way back). Our different takes might have something to do with differences in the types of barley wine we gravitate to... or a lack of perception on my end.

I was very interested in the Pattinson/Goose Island beers. The stock ale was the most radical. The porter was the most enjoyable. When I found out the third beer was going to be a barley wine, I was ecstatic. That excitement was amplified when I found out it was a Truman's recipe. This was the beer I was anticipating the most in the series, but the resulting beer was the most ordinary (by contemporary standards) of the group for me by far. If a different brewer released this beer today without marketing it as a historical recreation, I wouldn't find the beer unusual for its type (despite the keeper and runner process involved). While there is something interesting to be said about that, it still made the beer far less interesting than the others. There's no doubt that the date of the recipe plays a huge factor in this. The stock ale was a 1877 recipe. The porter was a 1840 recipe. The barley wine was a 1960 recipe. In hindsight, I would have preferred an older strong ale recipe for this release with more potential for being eye-opening, but I understand the interest in using a later recipe that Derek Prentice had a connection to.

Having said all that, I thought the beer was a really enjoyable drink. A beautiful looking beer. Tasted of chocolate covered alcohol soaked cherries, but at a low intensity level... and without the strong sweetness. Then add a firm bitterness to that. The body felt light for its type, and I was wondering if the brett was impacting the body more than the flavor for me.

Shout out to the man, @FBarber