Cellaring American Barleywine

I have aged Anniversary ale from Uinta before and would say it is better fresh. This is just my personal opinion. Lately, I have noticed that barleywines get very oxidized and I don't really enjoy that flavor (someone described it as wet cardboard once).

I would suggest you cellar them and taste one in about 6 months and then a year and see what how you like the flavors. It is a pretty easily obtainable beer so you can always find more if you like the what the cellaring does.

 

And other barleywines to cellar that are easily found are Bigfoot from SN, Old Stock Ale from North Coast, Horn Dog from Flying Dog and Old Foghorn from Anchor.

 

it can be hit or miss. some beers' hop flavors age poorly, some don't.

There can also be an "awkward" phase when the hops are fading, but the malt flavors haven't "taken over" yet.

 

you can take Uinta to probably the year mark. I have one that I will see how it is about 18 months. but I would either drink fresh to 5 mo.s, then maybe again between 11-12 mo.s. I believe their 'best by' is a year from bottling

I've noticed this from about 7 to 10 months. I do not like it. the 'flavor' of the hops is gone leaving only a really strong, off-putting bitterness reminiscent of earwax, which then backs off enough about 11 to 12 months to let malts come through, becoming pretty decent again, but bitterness should slowly continue to fade

 

I've never had uinta's barley wine, but if you didn't care for it fresh just try the other 3 at a determined timetable, I like to do every 6 months or year depending on the beer.

 

Although these four are completely different beers. Bigfoot is "American style", essentially an imperial IPA, while Old Stock is an old ale and the other two are English style BWs.

 

I'd give Stone Old Guardian a try

 

I have a bottle from 2014. I was planning on drinking it soon (might be tonight, now). I will let you know what I think.

 

Here is my review of a almost 4 year old bottle
From the cellar
12oz bottle into Libbey Tulip
Bottled 1/7/13 (3 yrs 9 months old)
L- dark brown almost black, with tints of red, thick tan head that is here to stay, leaving gorgeous rings of lacing
S- sweet enticing malt, sweet dark fruits such as dates & figs, caramel and incredibly some hop bitterness as well
T- rich chocolate malt, the dark fruit on the linger, with a spicy finish that has the a slight (expected) oxidation
F- rich and full bodied, heavy carbonation, drinking exceptionally smooth without a trace of the 10.4% alcohol
O- this beer has aged incredibly well, as mentioned in the feel drinking real smooth, only slight trace of oxidation, will definitely make an effort to seek this one out again

I say cellar on or two.
Cheers!

 

Old Guardian is a very hop aggressive beer, it will do the same as Bigfoot or Hog Heaven where the hops eventually oxidize and turn to the cardboard taste that admittedly, some people like. I think personally it will never reach a drinkable point, fresh it's just an imperial IPA, aged it's a mess. Hop lovers won't agree.

 

Last month I had two year old Anniversary Ale and thought it was good - for me much improved from fresh. I don't like hoppy bitterness at all, so fresh I didn't like it at all fresh. I have one more and am waiting for the three year mark. I think the trying at every six months idea is the right strategy for you since you liked it fresh.
I also think you want to make a distinction on the suggestion here on ABWs and EBWs. With a few exceptions, you probably don't want to go longer than 2 or 3 years with the ABWs. Since they are more heavily hopped, and with the types of hops they use, often they get a bad cardboard flavor with too much time. The EBWs (like Horn Dog you have) can go longer, some up to decades because of the lack of and type of hops. They are typically much sweeter which I love but they may be or become too sweet for you.

 

I think you're just going by what they're classified as on this site... and it's an exaggeration to claim that they are completely different in regards to style. By calling Bigfoot an imperial IPA, you are already recognizing that there will not be clear lines from one thing to the next... and that you can't put too much faith in what a brewer calls a beer or how it's listed in a system. If one thinks that there is an "American style," then Old Foghorn is an "American style" even if Bigfoot is far more aggressive. I haven't had Horn Dog in ages, but I've seen it listed elsewhere as "American style" as well. There also isn't anything about Old Stock that would exclude it from a barley wine category... the brewers are simply calling it an old ale/stock ale.

 

While old stock may not be an old ale, but rather a barleywine, I do think only a mad man would put it in the same category as bigfoot.

 

You can easily put them in the same category if the category is "strong ale" (which isn't a bad category). Maybe I'm a madman.

Bigfoot is a really funny beer because it's practically an anomally in the category it almost defined.

I'm not claiming that Old Sock isn't an "old ale," and I'm not saying it's in the "American style"... I'm just saying that that there isn't anything about it that would prevent it from being labeled a barley wine.

 

Lol. Heady topper could be a strong ale too, along with yeti. I do think there is an inherent value to classifications that are a bit more definite than strong ale. But in the barleywine category things do get a bit more broad. Even beers like BBomb push the style limitations, that beer is more like a stout to me. In the end it is becoming more difficult to define these beers.

 

To use your word, brewers are madmen. Sierra Nevada (knowingly or not) literally put Bigfoot in the exact same category as Gold Label and Tally-Ho. You, me, and @RDMII are also madmen for trying to make sense of it. Long live the madmen.

 

Tally-Ho is such a perfect example of an EBW, how could anyone try Bigfoot and think it's even close.

As for "strong ale", the shining examples are Arrogant Bastard (overhopped and more IPA like) and Dead Guy ( a maibock that's also overhopped). It literally just becomes a catch all at the end of the day.