A Barley Wine for Every Day

I agree. It feels far removed from a standard bock in a way, but does remind me of Celebrator specifically. For me, the extreme quality of Eisbocks tend to mask the richness that makes a typical Doppelbock enjoyable. The first time I ever had this Eisbock, it made me feel a little sick - and not in an alcohol way. Having this one brought me right back to that. There's something sickly about it. There's a syrupy taste, but not feel.

 

Sounds like five years of reform school.

Regarding @luisfrancisco 's inquiry, I do think that Bigfoot is too much of an iconoclast to be an "Old Rasputin."
@AlcahueteJ , your post did push me over the edge. Despite what I said earlier, I did decide to grab one recent Bigfoot to stash away for a later date.

 

I've had Hardy's once. From 2006, and had 7 years later. At the time, I found it too extreme to really enjoy. If the latest reincarnation is ever released over here, I'll want to try it for sure. By the strict (and some would say inaccurate) definitions of many here, that "old ale" would be a lager!

 

Samuel Smith Winter Welcome Ale

I know this beer is very different from most of the beers in this thread. It was just put on the shelf and I thought it would be the freshest that I could get it. I thought it would also be a good reference point for Stingo. The BJCP actually lists this beer as a good example of an old ale - so it's inclusion is actually warranted. The style listing on this site is winter warmer. Far different from American winter warmers, it's probably a better fit than old ale anyway. I guarantee it wouldn't be listed as a winter warmer if it didn't have winter in the name. That's not necessarily a bad way of doing things either. If this beer is an old ale, it is surely at an extreme end of the definition. The BJCP has this on the same list as Gale's Prize - the spectrum here is huge. To me, this is an ESB (if you can forgive me even thinking of "ESB" as a style - I sort of don't). It's essentially the same ABV as Fuller's bottled beer. It drinks like a strong bitter. As it's on the extreme end of an old ale, perhaps it's on the extreme end of a bitter... just strong enough to be "strong." It's a beautiful, crystal clear darkish amber. It has that distinctive British fruitiness. As hoped, this bottle was indeed the freshest tasting I've had it. In this condition (and with the proper expectations), it's a really nice drink.



Samuel Smith Yorkshire Stingo

Having Stingo in this context was an absolute revelation. In my memory, it was a murky complex beer... I now think that my memory exaggerated a good bit. I was surprised by how close this beer was to Winter Welcome (rather than, let's say George Gale's again). My hunch of using Winter Welcome as a reference point really paid off. While not as clear, it was still much closer than I would have thought. The nice fruity flavors were far subtler than what was found in other beers this month. There's a balance to this beer, and that surprises me too. While nicely crafted, I'm left with the feeling that this isn't worth the expense. Treating this beer as just another English strong in a long string of drinking big beers has maybe given it an unfair platform... but on the other hand, treating it as a special occasion beer perhaps provided too much bias. I love restraint in beer, but the price and production of this beer demanded something else. Until I decide to really splurge and have it again, it's gone down in status for me.

 

Thank you. If you could call it a "review." My reviews tend to be 99% musings, 1% tastings.
The price tag of Stingo might scare you off, but don't let the age of the bottle scare you off.

 

Hofstetten Granitbock Ice

Another Eisbock and I think I promise that it's the last one in this thread. This guy confirms my experience with the Kulmbacher beer and eliminates any grey area for me. All of the things that made the Kulmbacher beer unique are here without any other distractions. I had to adjust to this beer after the first few sips. It's also cola brown and reminiscent of prunes. It has the same sickly syrupy flavor without a syrupy feel. Carbonation starts strong and disappears very quickly. These Eisbocks invite measured sipping more than the barley wines.

 

I'm glad you mentioned your tradition. I might start doing the same.

 

Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot and Insanity

I think these might be the only two beers I am having where I have the opportunity to drink a "base beer" and then its barrel aged version. Blithering Idiot was cherry juice red in color. I found it to be intensely sweet. It tasted of caramel. It's a nice dessert beer if you are in the mood for something sweet. Insanity is in the same color ballpark. The barrel flavors mask some of the sweetness of Blithering Idiot, but one can taste Idiot underneath it all. The nuttiness provided by the barrel mitigates Idiot's identity - it is decadent in a different way. I'd say that Insanity is the more conventional of the two based on what's out there today. Nicely done.

 

Against the Grain London Balling

This beer had a lot to live up to. Against the Grain's Jerrytall is one of my favorite old ales. It is a pineapple-ish delight. Their Brettish Bulldog is a great old ale with some intended sourness in the background - something that's surprisingly absent in our beer landscape (come on American brewers, for all of your supposed dedication to adventure and history, you can't put a British fungus in a British beer... step up!). I wish either of those two beers were present this month. On top of that, their 70K is one of my favorite "barrel aged" beers.

Against the Grain's packaging is totally inconsistent. I absolutely love this particular bottle shape.

This beer is a murky chestnut brown that turns translucent yellow on the edges. Carbonation was minimal. I'd say I marginally enjoyed this more than the other bourbon barrel aged barley wines that I had so far this month. It found a good balance between achieving barrel presence without having those characteristics clash with the beer itself. The flavor was more bourbony than other beers. I do not mean that the barrel flavors were more intense, but rather: what was present tasted more of bourbon than vanilla. In some ways, this was detrimental. It was a more cohesive beer than others in its category, and as a result, I could drink more of this than others. When considering availability and price, this beer loses to the others. Unlike Central Waters, I can't grab a four pack at the store (but I would if I could). I don't know if this beer is produced via contract brewing or at their brewpub. Either way, it's great.

 

If that's the blackberry one, it might be a little unusual for a barley wine (I haven't had it).

 

Otter Creek & Lawson's Double or Nothing

As can be seen in these photos, the beer is a dark walnut stain in one lighting condition, and an absolutely stunning red in another. It is brewed with maple syrup, aged on maple wood, and called a "maple barleywine" on the packaging. This is heading dangerously close to gimmick territory in this regard. I get that it's going for a certain level of "terrior" (it even says "Vermont Collaboration" on the label). Conditions being what they are (one of which is beer-fan romanticism), Vermont can pull this off better than some other locations. If handed to me blind, I wouldn't think "maple" and that's not necessarily a bad thing. The heat, sweet malt, bittering hops, and wood contributions seem to be competing for attention in a rough mix. This isn't a beer for those who want seamless harmony, but it's not off-putting in any way.