Barleywine Appreciation Thread (2023)

All I can say is this. I used to despise Bigfoot for the longest time. Flavor was just too bitter (like aspirin) and I leaned only towards sweeter English style BWs. After about ten years into craft beer, my tastes shifted and now Bigfoot is pretty decent to my tastes (still not super-loving it but I do like it now). It’s always so cheap and available. At least once every couple months I can grab a single bottle for only $3.99 which is just too hard to pass on considering 90% of this stores singles of IPAs would sell for $4.99-.$7.99 range.

 

Old Foghorn is one of those perfect names. It’s a marriage of England and America. This is such a culturally significant beer in the craft space, but I don’t know if they really brew it anymore. It certainly doesn’t show up in stores by me anymore. I just did a product search for 100 miles from the brewery location and it had zero hits. If anybody knows if this is still brewed please let me know. Anchor unfortunately got rid of their Small Beer that was made along with Old Foghorn. That was probably my favorite from them.

This bottle of Old Foghorn is from April 2015, so we’re looking at 8 years of poor aging conditions. I haven’t had Old Foghorn in years, and the last time I had it I didn’t care for it because it featured too much isoamyl acetate for my tastes. Odds were against me liking this bottle. I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It tasted of caramel, black cherry, a little pumpernickel… and no off-putting amounts of isoamyl acetate. It was sweet, a bit acidic, and had good balancing bitterness. A pleasant surprise.

 

That is a very good BW. I bought some maybe 2-3 years ago and really enjoyed it relatively fresh (and the price was very reasonable).

 

Buy a six pack when it is first released instead of singles, and then have one every two months. It’ll be even cheaper.

 

Continuing with old beer on the shelf. This Skull Splitter has a best by date of June 2020… I think. Yeah, it’s not marketed as a barley wine, but it could be. Just like the Old Foghorn - the last time I had this beer I didn’t care for it. This old bottle is clicking with me a bit more than the last time, but not completely. It’s more “one note” than the old Old Foghorn. It’s sweet at first but finishes drier than the initial impression. It’s relatively thin. Tastes of cherry.

 

The last of these old beers from a store is Nemesis. It’s a relatively young one with a March 2021 bottling. This one is very bitter with a touch of char. Tastes of raisins, cherry and licorice. I enjoyed it but prefer Bigfoot. Had the same thought when I had this one fresh.

 

Living Martyr from Heist. It’s ok. Barleywine quality has been scarce lately. Only a few really good ones

 

Founders Sweet Repute wheat wine on the left, Dual Citizen Mayhem & Mischief on the right. They don’t worsen on tap.

Chased with


The Brewing Projekt 7th anniversary barrel aged barleywine, 16.4% abv

Holy shit. I will die remembering the few bottles on the shelf that I did not buy.

 

Given how 3 of those beers are poured to the top of the glass without a head, it’s odd that they gave you half a glass of head on the one. Is it special in any way?

 

It was on nitro. I don’t order many that way but seems like they’re usually less about height, and instead denser and creamier. But since it was less than half the price (abv) of the others I dismissed it as intentional and partied as if I had not been wronged.

 

Round Guys Brewing - Nautical Disaster barleywine

 

Central Waters Brewing's 5-year-aged BA barleywine. Incredible.

 

There is something about the romance of the five-year. They all have their own personality, but I really appreciate the five years of anticipation. That first sip.