Barleywine Appreciation Thread (2024)

Forgot to post in this thread tonight. Opened this to enjoy while watching the UW Huskies play Michigan in the CFB championship game—turned out this beer was the best thing about the evening Oh well, Michigan played a better game tonight and deserved the win.

Fremont Brew 6000, commemorating the brewery’s 6,000th batch. Pretty similar to other beers in the Brew X000 series, all of which (I believe) have been English barleywines. Review below.
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4.49/5 rDev +2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
22oz bottle into a tulip. Pours a deep rich mahogany with a thin off-white head.

Aroma is complex and enticing. Picking up some sour Rainier cherries, brown sugar, molasses, sweet bourbon, vanilla, holiday spice.

Taste is sweet and somehow savory. Rich and complex. Brown sugar, sweet stone fruits, toffee, caramel, bourbon-soaked figs and dates, pipe tobacco, vanilla, warm toasty bread out of the oven.

Mouthfeel is full bodied, borderline syrupy. Carbonation keeps it from feeling heavy.

Overall all a delicious dessert sipper of a beer, on par with the other Brew X000 beers I’ve tried.

 

@DIM Got myself a Tree of Fortitude

 

enjoying a SP/PP reverberant bourbon after shoveling snow about six different times today plus an impromptu snowball fight. this is tasting damn good. cheers!!

 

Great to see this BIL thread and an interesting candidate for the kickoff. Personally I was a bit disappointed in Mighty Oak and didn’t really get the same fruit profile you noted. I felt it was decent though and very surprising to see it sold for a mere $5 per 12 ounce bottle. Not what most of their big beers go for, but I figured that, judging by the results, they just wanted to clear it out? I still have one left and will try again! Keep up the good work.

 

Nice! I think you'll like it. did you get a Woodlot for yourself as well? That was dang tasty too.

 

I have to say, my kids and I are jealous of all that snow! We got maybe 2 inches Saturday that mostly got washed away by rain that night. And none at all last year!

 

it’s still falling here in central IL. i think it was supposed to be damn near 11” when it was all said and done. don’t know if it hit that mark or not.

 

I have a few. I found it on a shelf here and loved it. Went back to the store and they had 3 or 4 left and I just bought them all. $11.99 can't really go wrong for 500ml of that caliber of BA BW. I didn't see your post on it so I'll go look

 

Enjoying a 4 oz pour of Free Will Brewing's Dystopias, courtesy of @DIM. Being my 2nd taste of the day after a bottle of Founders The Cranfather, i am getting a coating mouthfeel and enjoying a very good blend of bourbon and port/cognac barrels. Thanks again Dan, so generous to share with @BMBCLT and i!
Cheers!
Tom

 

Black & Grays Ye Olde Curmudgeon, a BBA Barleywine, a small local, not a fan of the 8.2oz cans......

 

Cheers Tom! That's a tough one not to drink I find. It's just too easy to have an ounce or two anytime and it sure is tasty.

 

I feel like I should like them but I sure don't.

 

JW Lees Harvest Ale 2002

If the years on labels correspond to the fall in which the beer is brewed (which I imagine is the case), then this bottle is 21 years old. I think this might be the oldest age I've had for this beer (oldest vintage would be 2001, but I had that with 16 years of age). For me, ale doesn't get better than this... except maybe a fresh Harvest Ale. The color of these get really dark at this age. It's like a chocolate brownie with black cherries, dates, a little acidity, and a strong herbal bitterness.

 

Nice. I drank a 2002 bottle at the 20 year mark last year:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/cellar-reviews-2022.664094/page-4#post-7458673

Do you know if it's the brewery or the importer that seems to release vintage bottles? When I was just at Shangy's (a beer distributor/store in Emmaus, PA) recently they had bottles on the shelf going back to the early 2000's but I have to imagine they haven't been sitting on the shelf for 20 years.

 

To be nitpicky, that bottle of yours was probably closer to 19 years old rather than actually being 20 - but that depends on two things: 1) if it is still the case (or was in 2002) that the beer is brewed in October, and 2) that the marked vintage corresponds to the year of that October.

The beer was first brewed in the 80s, but B United reached out to the brewer in 2000 regarding its importation. B United still has stock going back to 2001 (which is the oldest bottle I've seen), which means that that was likely the first year brought to the US, and that stores can get old vintages from the importer. It's definitely been my experience that stores get old vintages. I know B United continues to get the beer in stock when fresh, but I have no idea if they also get older vintages from the brewer.

 

Having a mild, which apparently means unaged (thanks for explanation in last year's thread @zid ) but this was aged 6 months in the bottle, barley wine from Grimm called XXXXX. Served a couple degrees below cellar temp.



This is outstanding. Bruleed brown sugar, toffee, potpourri-ish stone fruit and citrus, plus plenty of dates up front. It's pretty dry overall with a nice lingering bitterness at the finish, citrus peel, a biscuity sort minerality, and a hint of pine. Put this in packs instead of 500ml bottles and I'd buy a bunch.

 

I had "This is Hygge" from Evil Twin Brewing. The beer seems to be made with English malts however it has more of an American Barleywine character. There is an orange flavor to the beer which tastes a lot like the old orange tootsie pops. A lingering chocolate character, far in the background, helps with this impression. It has some bitter, charred flavor in the background that gives it some bitterness. The highlights of the beer are the appearance and the incredible drinkability. The beer boasts a very large 15% but it always feels mellow behind the bold flavors of the beer. If you enjoy less subtle barleywines or ones that might have a focus on citrus or orange, this could be right up your alley.

 

2017 Port Barrel Aged. Vinous - plums/raisins and sweet grapes - port makes an appearance in the finish. Gorgeous brassy/ruby color but got sediment floaties in the glass while decanting. Definitely some oxidation but still drinkable.

 

2024 Bigfoot



Whoo-boy the hops are prominent in this one.

 

Revolution ‘23 Straight Jacket BA English Barleywine. One of the best of the style year in and year out. Rich caramel, Werther's Originals, bread pudding, pumpernickel bread, dried apricot, boxed raisin, fig, molasses, burnt sugar, vanillin, bourbon spirit, drying charred oak. The availability and quality is unmatched around here. Outstanding vintage.