Barleywine Appreciation Thread (2022)

Common knowledge @ 25+/conceivably. An event that’s had some setbacks with a creativeness

January 28-29 for 2022
https://www.alaskacraftbrewandbarleywine.com/

 

Never had Lagavulin by itself. But yeah I agree it's a weird combo. Also gonna piggyback off this to say I did the side by side of 2016 Sherry Cask vs Port Cask of JW Lees tonight. I'll keep it brief, but at first I thought the sherry was gonna steal the show with a much more attractive pour and aroma, but the taste of the port cask blew it out of the fucking water, as well as the feel. Something about the richness of the port really drove it into high gear, with much more of a fruity and slightly tart bite. Both were still delicious, but it was a 4.18 for sherry and 4.37 for port

 

All jokes my friend

Chris, which of the other Harvest variants have you had? I just did the port and sherry, both 2016, and the port one was incredible

 

Looks like a recipe modified for home brewers. Brewers didn't use plain white sugar. That's probably a substitute for invert sugar. And the black malt a substitute for caramel.

 

Here's a classic Scotch Ale recipe:

1949 William Younger No. 1
pale malt 13.50 lb 78.26%
crystal malt 60L 0.50 lb 2.90%
mild malt 0.50 lb 2.90%
flaked barley 2.00 lb 11.59%
lactose 0.75 lb 4.35%
Fuggles 90 min 1.00 oz
Fuggles 60 min 1.00 oz
Fuggles 30 min 0.75 oz
Goldings dry hops 0.25 oz
OG 1074
FG 1023
ABV 6.75
Apparent attenuation 68.92%
IBU 29
SRM 20
Mash at 152º F
Sparge at 160º F
Boil time 90 minutes
pitching temp 57.5º F
Yeast WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

 

Ahh yes! To be young and have a fully functioning liver!

 

If an American craft brewer sold a "Scotch ale" and stated that it had lactose and was dry hopped, some beer enthusiasts would blast them for not making a "traditional" Scotch ale (regardless of the ingredient amounts used or where American brewers found such practices). I don't know if you are aware of how popular lactose has become in American craft beer.

@JackHorzempa has generously been having a side discussion with me about JW Lees Harvest Ale. Mitch Steele included it in his IPA book and stated that it was "today's best representation of the traditional October ale" - which surprised me because that's something I never would have thought of. I don't know if Steele is putting a lot of weight on the fact that Harvest Ale is brewed only once a year (in October according to Steele). Here's a link to someone's recipe based on Steele's. Do you have any thoughts on this statement from Steele? Did commercial brewers ever market product as October ale? Harvest Ale was introduced in 1986. Can you please convince JW Lees to make a C ale and export all of it to the US despite the likelihood that it would be a poor business decision?

 

I've had them all as far as I know. I prefer the regular Harvest Ale but it can be hard to compare them because they are typically old and can vary so much from year to year (and bottle to bottle)... and I've had far more bottles of the regular beer. The Lagavulin is my favorite of the cask aged beers because of its stronger distinctiveness when compared to the regular beer. Of the other versions, I had one particular bottle of the Calvados version that I liked quite a bit.

 

Lots of traditional UK brewers use adjunct sugar in their ales - and the practice of dry hopping certainly has UK roots. Who are these beer enthusiasts that would blast a brewery using such practices to make a Scotch Ale??

 

Perhaps I made an overstatement, but I don’t think it’s hard to imagine such a reaction when beers can be seen by others as either an “abomination” or “innovation.” It seems like lactose gets a ton of hate around here as the former thing if it’s in anything besides a stout, and I doubt many beer enthusiasts are aware that it was sometimes used in ales in the UK as well.

 

This one is phenomenal...aged in Blanton's Bourbon Barrels for 14 months. !

 

One of my favorite styles. One of the reasons I started homebrewing too. It's been nice seeing them become more prominent in the modern craft beer scene. My favorite has to be Holy Mountain Hand of Glory. It does a really good job of balancing the modern saccharine tendencies of English barleywines of late with the traditional characteristics of old school stuff. Great barrel character as well.

 

If ADWTD wasn't billed as an American barleywine, I don't think this would even be a discussion. English all day, every day, twice on Sundays.

 

Not sure if Lees Harvest Ale is really like an October Beer. They would have been aged for years.

I can't remember ever seeing a beer called October Ale or October Beer. I have seen adverts saying that a beer was brewed in October, though.

 

And even Fowlers only used the name on the small bottles. Or, in Scots speak, wee bottles.
A wee bottle of Heavy. Never a style.

 

Thomas Hardy's, my first barley wine love and still holding strong.
Other than that, J.W. Lee's is excellent as well. Never saw the Christmas
version but am on the lookout!

Cheers

 

If your post was referencing the bit below from one of my posts, the Christmas Ale is a Harvey's beer... not a different version of Harvest Ale. Are you referencing something different?

 

Whoops, missed that it was Harvey's....had that I think about 20 years or so ago....
didn't they also make one called Liquid Plum Pudding as well?

 

Although my favorites lean toward the English style, I also love the more hoppy American style. My favorite is the barrel aged Central Waters Brewers Reserve, a dryer style with a touch more alcohol on the tongue.