Barleywine Appreciation Thread (2022)

Regardless of how much that particular beer does or does not resemble them, pale barley wines were a beer style in post WW2 England... even though BJCP judges didn't seem to acknowledge this when commenting on Helldorado. What's the signed picture in your pic?

 

Funny you ask..Someone asked the same question in the cellar thread. It's a concert poster from one of my favorite bands ...and you will know us the trail of dead. And thanks for the info on the Helldorado!

 

Beer reads quite nice. I just ordered the BA and the 12 pack of regular along with a bottle of Torpedo hot sauce. How long did your order take to arrive?

Enjoy

 

Thanks for the tip. An 8pk of this plus a 12pk of vintage Bigfoot is very conveniently $75 on the nose! I might be placing an order very soon.

 

Triple dipping with this post, haha. Enjoying some Gratitude this evening.

 

I claim adjacency:


19.2oz is a nice little whiff.

 

Cross-posted from the Cellaruary thread

Just picked up a sixer of fresh 2022 SN Bigfoot. So I decided to do a side by side with 5 year old and 10 year old bottles. Left to right, 2012, 2017, 2022. All in my cellar since purchase when fresh. I have a few other vintages older and younger but figured these are good round numbers.

Not much difference in appearance really at all. All three are about the same clear dark copper color, and have excellent head retention while leaving rings of lacing on the glasses. Aroma goes the opposite direction as would be intuitive, as its "bolder" oldest to youngest. The aroma moves from a mixture of toffee and spicy pine resin in the oldest to all bright floral hops and orange rind in the fresh. 2012 taste hits mild molasses, mint, and rum - starts sweet, but underlying bitterness, but long finish. 2017 the malt flavor is less developed, and the hop bitterness is stronger. 2022 not unexpectedly has the most hop flavor, but still balanced with the caramel malt. Stickiness in the mouthfeel increases with the age.

Overall it's still surprising when some of these classic strongly hopped American Barleywines are still have a bold hop bitterness after a decade.

 

Here's a real nice 2014 from Brooklyn Brewery. Tastes like a classic English Barleywine. I'm glad I cracked this tonight.

 

JW Lees Harvest Ale is one of my top 5 favorite beers. Last night posted a cellar review for a 20 year old bottle. Notes here:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/cellar-reviews-2022.664094/page-2#post-7458673

 

St. Paul Brewing showcasing a commercial grade photo studio backdrop.



“Tasty. Will drink more.” — me, drinking this, with more left.

 

Barleywineboard like your French ablrglgrrrrglr

 

Hey @DIM, thoroughly enjoying the thread! I made the same order online for my little retirement BEER tasting group. Shared one along with a 2022 Bigfoot regular with a friend while shooting some pool at our Clubhouse last week. I am not much of a cocktail guy, but his first comment was that the Spiced came across like a Manhattan which i had to agree with as to me it was along the lines of the Firestone Walker Man Hattan beer cocktail i had two years ago while living in PHX.
Also went up to Mills River last week and picked up the Bigfoot Vintage six pack (2011,2012, 2014, 2016, 2019, 2020). While there, i was able to get a flight of Bigfoot draught that i think included 2021, 2013, 2015, and 2018 - that was fun to work my way from oldest to newest and back and forth again - definitely can see how Bigfoot trends towards the English style in the older years!
Back to the Bigfoot Vintage, my beer group had a tasting on my birthday (oh the audacity!) and they ended up rating the 2016 as the favorite. They were kind enough to document the event. I was able to have the 2011 Bigfoot on my birthday evening - it was sublime, very English BA like!
Cheers!
Tom

 

Looks great

 

This from the basement
Time has treated this well
Candied orange, toffee, a bit of caramel
Cheers

 

No, but should I???