Barleywine, Old Ale, Strong Ale, etc.

it's probably just me but in my head through my experiences i see them as big beers, almost always over 9% if not into 10%+ range.

in my head:
-Barleywines are big beers; sweet, hoppy, and malty. lively and large
-Old Ales are more malty and dry but big beers as well
-actually haven't had a Strong Ale

i actually really like American Barleywines. they're like giant double IPAs yet are usually a clear separate style.

In the winter of 2015 I worked exclusively 3pm-11pm from November 1 - January 31. My whole sleep schedule changed drastically as well as my beer consumption. I would sleep from 4am-12pm and nothing hit the spot like a nice Barleywine when I got home. I drank Bigfoot and Old Ruffian nearly every night after work. For some reason it just hit the spot after a long day of work and getting home around midnight in the winter.

 

I'd say there's more overlap between Old Ale and Strong Ale (not Belgian though - that's completely different). Very malt forward, usually a bit of caramel, maybe dark fruit. But a barley wine (most notably an American style) is it's own beast. Nice balance of hops and a strong malty backbone. English style probably a touch less heat, far less hop character overall, but clearly the bittering effect of hops is present. I love American barleywines for pretty much the same reasons as what @Wiffler27 stated but can take or leave the others, as I usually find the balance out of whack. On a side note, the out of whack-ness is why an aged DIPA doesn't only not turn into a barley wine, but why it's not too good either.

 

Strong ales fall somewhere in between barleywine, imperial stout, and possibly dipa it seems. Olde ale comes across as barleywine's little brother.

 

Rule of thumb is once an Old Ale hits double digits it's a barleywine; more of a gravity thing than a recipe change. Kind of like a BSDA becoming a Quad. So your last sentence is just looking at it from the other direction.

 

I like old ales and strong ales, but I don't care for barleywines due to the bitterness.

 

According to something I read on wikipedia, the short answer is no; there's no discernible difference between Old Ale and Barleywine, and "Strong Ale" is even more nebulous as to not mean anything at all outside of what a small number of people might agree on.

Now, in my experience, there is a difference:

Barelywine: Almost always nearly as strong as actual wine (11-13%), tend towards a reddish amber, very hop-forward, but still with lots of malt character. Typically just a hint of sweetness. As the "barley" name implies, I rarely if ever have seen examples with any sort of adjunct.

Old Ale: Most of what I've had is typically in closer to a Wee Heavy in body and color; dark brown/nearly black, malty, hops present but doesn't carry the flavor, and by far the sweetest. Some that I've had (Curmudgeon) are even made with molasses as an adjunct, and the bourbon barrel aging. As someone said, these top out around 10%

Strong Ale: Again, probably the most nebulous of these three. These are VERY dry (no sweetness), tend to be a brown-amber (not dark brown, but may be reddish), and EXTREMELY hoppy (the most of the 3) and bitter. The maltiness is high, but the hops overshadow it more than the other 2. These tend to be medium-bodied compared to the first 2 styles, and ABV hovers in the high 7-8%, but that's not an absolute of course. So despite the name, they're probably the weakest of the 3. They're almost like a lighterbodied dopplebock, with more hops, about the same malt character, and not sweet at all. American examples are the hoppiest by far I've seen.

Hope this helps. I haven't had a terrible lot of beers in any one of these styles, but each one has had appreciable differences. Lots of beer styles (brown ales, amber, etc) are really ambiguous and catch-all by nature, and these are one of them

 

I'll be reviewing an American Strong Ale from Weyerbacher for NBS tomorrow. Looking forward to it!

 

They're definitely flavorful. Which one did you have?

 

Olde ales are a lower attenuated barleywine, don't ferment to as high of alcohol, so there's usually more sweetness and a less pronounced bitterness. I'm actually not sure if strong ales have an official definition.

 

From Redlight Redlight in Orlando was something French or Belgian or German? Was 14%. Am I drinking right? Yes.

 

Never heard of it, but I'm glad you're first barleywine was a good one. It's one of my favorite styles.

 

About the Strong Ale, just think of it as a ramped-up Pale Ale, whether that be American or English.

Enjoy that Old Stock- I'm feelin' kinda jealous atm . Between that and the Bell's North Coast, I don't think one even needs to look elsewhere.

 

It's my opinion that any stated differences are usually a result of either: anecdotal impressions, cherry picking evidence, or romanticized ideal.

Here's a quote from Ron Pattinson (in regards to any historical approaches):

I would also add Burton Ale and Winter Warmer to the group considering the name games that have been played.

Having said that, there are certain beers that are associated with one of those "styles" that don't feel appropriate being associated with the others. An example would be a 5% beer that people could consider a Burton Ale, Strong Ale, or Old Ale... it would be a stretch to consider such a beer a barley wine (or at least it would feel like one to me). At the same time, a barley wine could be as low as 7% even though most here would probably never think of them like that (as if Adnams didn't have a say in this).

Here's where I'll lose all credibility to some: It's also my opinion that the line between the so-called American and English barley wine isn't nearly as cut and dry as people here treat it.

 

You don't lose credibility just because we may disagree on that one point.

But, yeah, it is worth pointing out that Old Ale is more a process than a style, as it's historically founded, and can be any color or gravity as a result. Thus Old Peculier.

 

Just note that I didn't say that there couldn't be legitimate differences distinguishing certain "American" and "English" barley wines... but rather that the line between them (as a group) isn't as clear cut as people here tend to portray. I mean, if we can't all agree on Old Foghorn, then there's got to be some confusion or blurriness (even if you yourself don't feel torn about that beer).

Do you know of anything regarding today's Old Peculier that links it with an "old ale process" though?

 

Hmm..as to Old Peculiar, maybe our English members can answer that better. It is my understanding, through certain articles I've read, that it is considered an 'Old Ale' as that is thought of today. How that is linked with the past I cannot answer. But will also point out that most 'modern' Old Ales don't contain the 'funkiness' and sourness that the original ones would've had. My guess is that the difference is that it is conditioned in house, rather than in the pubs as a cask ale or mild would be.

For English vs American, I may be unique in this regard although it makes perfect sense to me: I hold yeast signature to be more of a defining factor than hops. We do it with German and Belgian ales, why not English?

 

I really like that (unique around here) perspective, but I don't know if that proves your point or mine. Perhaps both, but then I'm probably being too generous to my nonsense.

 

One of the best Barleywines I have had was Young's Old Nick on cask, which clocked in at a whopping 7.2%.