Barleywine Vertical - tips?

I'm jelly. JW Lees got me into barleywines about 4 years ago. I only have 2 in my cellar though

 

For verticals like these with beers about 10% ABV and very flavorful, I would say that ~20-25 oz total per person is probably the max. Much more than that, people will get shit faced.

I think also, 2-3 ounces per is probably enough to taste and savor.

 

Arrange it chronologically from oldest to newest vintage. Older vintages are generally more complex and more delicate which means you need to have them first to ensure a clean and unmuddled palate if you want to pick up all those nuances.

 

I suggest you start w/ the oldest and work your way to the most recent. This is the best way for hoppy barley wines like BigFoot.

 

I respectfully disagree with the previous posts. I have found the tasting things from Newest--->Oldest provides great perspective on where the beer started and how it evolves over time. You don't need to finish the samples to move onto the next. Sip them all and get a sense of what happened with it back to back. If I may also suggest some sort of palette cleanser, pretzels or the like.

And enjoy JW's make for a great vertical tasting!

 

No advice, just jealousy

 

I have never gone oldest to newest . Have read various threads on the best way proceed . I think it all comes down to personal preference really.

 

To add, I would also let the bottles warm up a bit from refrigerator temperature to ensure you're getting maximum nose and flavor.

 

Respectfully disagree on the newest to oldest viewpoint. Verticals inevitably bring palate overload which is why its best to start with the more complex more delicate beers before they are lost in a quagmire of various bigger palate wrecking flavours. Excellent point on how you don't need to finish samples before moving on though. I do that at most tastings and going back and forth among samples really adds to the experience.

 

Can I come over?

 

Sounds like my kind of tasting.

 

How about this, get nice hard plastic cups and pour them all at the same time and people can move in whatever order they want and compare vintages directly. We did this with a 6-year vertical of world wide stout recently

 

Yes, but don't stop there.

Wait...





what?

 

Ive never done a big vertical tasting but I think it would be difficult to fully savor and appreciate a beer from a 2oz pour. If I was doing a high ABV vertical tasting I would do 4 oz pours, but thats just me.

 

2 oz is enough IMO. And if it's a high abv vert like BCBS or WWS, you'd really only be able to fully drink 4 of those pours before you get shitty. We recently did all the BCBS variants + King Henry + BCBS06-12 this was split 7-8 ways and not a single one of us finished all the beers. Rare, Vanilla, and KH were the only ones that everyone finished. Some like 07 BCBS and Cherry Rye pretty much everyone had one sip and was done.

Also be prepared to not like some of these beers, especially ones starting at 4 years old. Age beer is an acquired taste and some bottles that weren't well taken of do not age well.

 

Which vintages do you have? I'm hoarding these for a future barleywine tasting event or something...

JW Lees 2006, 2008, and 2010 Calvados
JW Lees 2008 and 2010 ("regular")

I guess it doesn't look like that many when I post it on BA, but I have a ton of other barleywines, too.

ALSO - Please post your tasting notes !

 

Agree with Soonami. Have done this with Dark Lord and Behemoth and Goose BCS. The way to compare is to have all of the years poured at once, so you taste back and forth from one to another.

Doing this with friends is essential. And try to convince everyone to jot down ratings and flavor profiles.

Also, have bottled water handy so you can rinse your mouth between tasting and stay hydrated. Afterward, eat.

 

Make sure to post results so we can live vicariously through them...