Imperial Barleywine

No, sorry. Barleywine, by its very nature, is "imperial." But I wouldn't be surprised by the attempt at a designation by some intrepid brewery to complement their, uh, "session Barleywine."

 

Imperial Session IPA?

 

If you want a high ABV barleywine look for Mikkeller's "Big Worst" (Worster/Worstest) series, or Anchorage's "A Deal with the Devil". The big worst is Mikkeller playing around with a variety of flavors and doesn't really have typical barleywine taste to me. Deal with the devil is more of a usual barleywine flavor I think. The first release of deal with the devil was super highly regarded. Now they are on second release which people are saying isn't as good as the first, but.... that's how it always goes when comparing to the original yeah?

 

I suppose that if such a thing really could exist, then Dogfish Head's Olde School Barleywine would be the model. At some point, however, one simply crosses the line into "American Strong Ale" (i.e. Utopias) territory.

 

wishbone by shmaltz

 

Uh, that's redundant.

 

hmm.....sounds yummy

 

All barleywines are imperial.

 

Perhaps we should look at the origin of the word that's so popular these days, "imperial". The term came from the Russian Imperials (of their government I imagine) wanting a thicker, higher alcohol, and warming beer for their bitter cold winter months. So, in many ways the word "imperial" is synonymous with the word "double". However, the word(s) double or imperial are redundant (as others have stated) are redundant within this category, because it was originally a strong desert style ale if I'm not mistaken. Please correct me if I'm wrong!! I hope this helps, if it doesn't or if my "facts" aren't correct, I'd like to know too.

 

It's become a generic term for a stronger version of said beer.

 

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/26749/77202/
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/26749/113245/

 

Barrel aged V.S. non barrel aged high ABV of 13 plus but I agree a Barley wine by nature is a very complex beer thus already falls in the imperial realm. Goose island barley wine will prove that point easily.

 

I believe Southern Tier's Oak-Aged Backburner is referred to as an "Imperial Barley wine style ale" on the packaging.

But yeah, i agree with the sentiment here....barleywine is kind of implicit that its "imperial"

 

Yes, Imperial Barleywines are released by a brewery's department of redundancy department.

 

So....when will this thread be deleted?

 

If Olde School and Boltcutter are not imperial enough it is probably time to switch to hard liquor.

 

LOL

 

Double Imperial Session Barleywine.

 

That is literally the name of Mendocino's Barleywine.