Barleywine Appreciation Thread (2024)

Thomas Hardey's "The Historical" 2018. Blackberry jam and asphalt; love it.

 

2020 vintage J.W. Lees on cask.



Enjoyed this after a long walk through my hometown my with oldest friend of over 40 years. Wonderful evening.

 

Pretty cool for an August afternoon, 66°.
Liquid Legacy from More Brewing.

 

1840 Brewing I Forgot That You Existed. A barleywine aged in bourbon and Cabernet Sauvignon wine barrels. This beer sounded incredible. But it tastes like a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon wine topped off with a bit of bourbon and barleywine. There is a time and place for a drink of that design, but I am not feeling it right now.

 

Here’s hoping they make it again

 

Many thanks to our Chief Barleywine Officer @DIM for this 2020 Vintage gem. Very good BW meets Brandy Barrels and delivers a classic. This one could easily rest and develop another five years, thanks again Dan!
Cheers!
Tom

 

Hey Tom, nice to hear from you! I badgered my beer guy into tracking down a case for me when it came out. Apparently it was tough for him but I'm so glad he came through.

So glad to hear you enjoyed it and I agree with you, this has a lot of room to age gracefully yet. I have one left, not sure how long I can hold out...

 

Fremont's 14th anniversary golden barleywine, right around a year old at this point.



Up front I get really appealing notes of raisin, butterscotch candies, honey, toffee, and burned brown sugar. It's almost reminiscent of a potent Belgian golden ale in some ways minus the esters. The finish doesn't quite live up unfortunately. It isn't bad by any means, but the barrel notes are a little too hot and the grassy bitterness comes on a bit too strong.

This is good but doesn't quite measure up to other barleywines from Fremont. The Brew k series is where it's at.

 

Couple recents:

Fair State Co-Op - Zoomie Catcher barleywine ale

Enjoyed this even more than before. That’s a good trend.



Clown Shoes - Flight to Bolivia old ale aged in whistlepig rye ex Bordeaux barrels and blasted across the alkali flats in a jet-powered, monkey-navigated… oh actually that was all. What old ale thread? Anyways, delicious and super tall can is a fine way to do things.

 

Side Project / Hair of the Dog - A Long Time Ago

technically an old ale (or adambier?) but this definitely has enough in common with barleywine. and man oh man did this rock. i must admit i am
not familiar (to my taste buds anyways) with HotD beers but this was an amazing blend of 2014 and 2018 adam with 2022 bourbon barrel-aged längst. idk what the ratios were but judging by the barrel character i am guessing more längst than adam. it that’s a total guess. this had a port wine like aroma and taste to it as it warmed up. gentle oxidation. some tobacco on the nose too but more caramel, dark fruits and light chocolate on the taste. very well done blended beer. cheers!!

 

I was in line at a busy Jaworskis butcher shop today when I saw their sign “God bless our Polish football coach,” and decided it was time to try the Polish barleywine I bought a few months ago. Komes barleywine by Browar Fortuna 12%. Na Zdrowie.

 

In the mood for a little something sweet, revisiting this bottle from New Image that I opened 2 weeks ago.



No drop-off at all, it's still marvelous. 2 pours in the bottle to enjoy at some point. I love strong, still beer.

 

"Barnstorm Barleywine Ale" from Stoneman Brewing (the smallest brewery in MA) hits hard with classic American barleywine vibes; spicy bourbon body with a bitter marmalade finish.

 

Vault City Barleywine!

 

Having Husk from Goose Island tonight. This was apparently brewed with heirloom red corn and aged in barrels that held bourbon made with that same corn from Joe Henry and sons out of Wisconsin.



Not much head on the pour and while this is pretty still the body has enough heft that it's fine.

This is very sweet overall but there are a lot of really nice layers here. Tons of brown sugar and figs along with some molasses, candied nuts, earthy vanilla, and a little oak. Damn good overall.