Barleywine Appreciation Thread (2024)

I am not a brewer but I am under the impression that open air fermentation yields sour beer? You are more knowledgeable than i, am I incorrect about that? You're right though, the wrong beer being described on their website side, the description should have been more clear.

They did another funk-wine called Funeralize and the description did mention mixed cultures so maybe you're right about Songs going sideways.

 

Finally got some!



I buy this every year but for a lot of those years I wouldn't drink it fresh. What the hell was I thinking?? Yes it ages well but it's great out of the gate too! Is there a better looking beer?

 

Don't be fooled - I know nothing about everything. Anchor used to use a similar process to make "steam beer" but I don't recall when they stopped exposing it to night air. Lager brewers use coolships and they aren't in the ballpark of trying to create sour lager... albeit they likely aren't as inclined to open the windows these days, and open fermentation is an old and somewhat widespread tradition (but the same likely holds true regarding those windows again). Regardless, the making of sour beer is typically quite deliberate. The brewer's description of: "Notes of toffee, burnt brown sugar, and Crème Caramel," seems to paint a very specific picture, so there might be some sort of disconnect somewhere along the line. Who knows.

 

It can but doesn’t necessarily. Wild or mixed culture might get you to sour, might not. And you can get to sour without open air fermenting.


Had this guy the other night:


Tonight’s barleywidnesday selection:

looks like it’s the 2020 batch
It’s a goddamn delight, I tell you!

 

Proximal 2020 from Around The Bend a 13% English Barleywine aged in Rt.12 Rye Whiskey barrrels that originally held Napa Valley Red Wine, thats from the label. No noticeable rye presence, but the wine is and it ads a nice flavor, some dark fruit, brown sugar. Very smooth abv wel hidden.

....enjoying tis outside, can't believe the weather idiots are calling for 3" of snow....

 

The aroma has notes of vanilla bean, caramelized sugar, and figs. The flavor is big. There is vanilla bean and vanilla extract throughout mixed with raisins, figs, and plum. There is a caramelized sweetness underneath it all. Just a hint of bitterness in the finish. There is also just a hint of chocolate that I notice. The vanilla is sweet but not cloying. At 12% I hardly notice the alcohol.

I'm really enjoying this.

 

What brewery? I'm not sure what I'm looking at on that label.

 

Timber Ales. I guess that's not at all clear from the pic. This was from a Halftime purchase from about a month ago.

 

Gilded Grove from Tree House, a blonde, bourbon barrel aged barleywine. Thanks to @VodkaPong87 for this one!



Well damn this is great! And just a bit atypical... Plenty of sticky caramel, leather, brown sugar, and oaky booze. There is a wonderful, and very different, spiced fruit note here as well. It's a lightly sweet spice combination of cinnamon, vanilla, cardamom, and more baked into apples, pears, and a little banana. Another stellar barleywine from TH, thanks @VodkaPong87 for the opportunity.

 

MobCraft Beer Barrel-Aged Barleywine. From Milwaukee, WI. There are many more breweries in this city, a city that is known for producing beer. All of those breweries are known for beers that don't taste like tart cherries and shoes. MobCraft Beer is definitely going in the tart cherry and shoe direction with this beer.

 

Bigfoot following something sweet is a revelation.

 

Oof, hope your day gets better from here.

 

Lolev Demeter



Thought I'd give this one another shot and splurged on a 4-pack. Enjoying it a bit more than last time; seems like it's too cold so letting it warm. There's a specific flavor in this that I can't pin down but is kinda off-putting to my taste buds. Borders on medicinal, like baby aspirin or something.

 

It did. Courtesy of a NEIIIPA. I have a barrel-aged barleywine on deck for my next session, from @cheeseheadinMinneapolis. I can't wait for that beer!

 

Cahoots AmEn! BBA American/English Barleywine, 11.1% ABV. Pours dark brown with a one-finger beige head that left no lacing. Aroma is caramel/toffee and malt. Flavor follows, some moleasses and bourbon, slightly sweet, faintly bitter. Decent mouthfeel, overall outstanding. Not your typical barleywine flavor, but I like it a lot. The BA listing says it's 93 IBU, but there's no way, this can't be over 30.

4.44/5 rDev +8.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Having what we hope is the last snowstorm of the season, so zero alarm chili in the crock. One family member doesn't like spicy, so the rest of us spice it up when we serve it.

 

ATB Proximal 2019, a couple of days ago I enjoyed the younger sibling of this, both very good.

 

Enjoying this classic
Just turned the corner toward toffee and caramel
Cheers all

 

Fort George Etymology (Etymology is a blend of two very different but equally delicious variations of barleywine. Etym: English Barleywine aged in Westward Whiskey Barrels for 8 Months. Ology: American Barleywine aged in Booker’s Bourbon Barrels for 12 months).

Pours a ruby dark brown with a billowing, dense head that surprisingly dissipates slowly given the abv.

Aroma is caramel, rich toffee, brown bread, grapefruit hop, some molasses, some maple, raisin, bourbon spirit, pine hop presence, charred oak, some vanillin.

Taste brings rich caramel, toffee, bread pudding with raisin, fig, some molasses, bourbon spirit, some grapefruit, bitter piney hops, some vanillin, charred oak tannin.

High medium body. Creamy, slick, oily, sticky.

This is an interesting one. I'd prefer this to be all English style but the American version of this brings balance in the form of hop character and bitterness. Nice barrel. I dig it.

 

Marlowe - The Gilded Hand

w/ hazelnuts and vanilla. Vanilla is pretty much an auto-non-purchase for me, but I like to challenge my assumptions. Having a typo on the label never fills me with confidence though (it's on the back).

 

Deeds. Not words.