Old Ale Appreciation Thread (2024)

I think barleywine falls under Old Ale .

Strong Ale , Old Ale , Stock Ale, Old Stock sometimes fall under the category

I think

 

I guess this beg the question as to what distinguishes an old ale from barleywine and it’s ilk?

 

I agree it probably can "fit" there, but that's because most currently brewed "Old Ales" have more hops than they should.

 

Stone Arrogant Bastard is an old ale,strong ale and barleywine

 

Arrogant Bastard has never been a Barleywine.

 

I get where you are going here. I love AB, and regularly offer it up as a beer that defies a style designation. I think it belongs in the "strong ale" category because it lacks the vinous/fruit notes of a classic "Old Ale" and is pretty restrained on both the malt and hops compared to a typical barleywine. So it winds up in the catchall "ASA" category as a result. But it's definitely the classic example of why the "strong ale" category even exists, i.e., "where do we put this thing?"

Have you ever "aged" this one to see where it winds up?

 

I think there's enough of a difference between Barleywines and Old Ales for separate threads.

 

I agree, here, as well. There are similarities, but big differences between true Old Ales and BWs. Hop level, alone, is a big difference, with Old Ales, featuring much lower IBUs. Old Ales get their malt character from a different path, too.

 

I had a 2016 Southern Charred ( BA Double Bastard) that fell into barleywine territory and some of Oaked Arrogant Bastard as well. They kinda turn into Bigfoot type taste

 

Thanks for starting this thread. I’ve been saving the following Bruery anniversary beers specifically to post them here. I’ll get started soon
Bois
Fruet
Sucre
Saule
Cuivre
Etain
Poterie

 

People are assigning some aspects to these beers that likely don’t really hold up well. If an “old ale” today is at an “imperial” strength level, there is nothing really in practice that separates it from a barley wine… except maybe color depending on the brewer. It’s essentially another term for the same thing. In the past, it simply meant an aged ale. Old Peculier isn’t actually marketed as an old ale, but it’s a good example of the type of beer that could be marketed as an old ale but probably wouldn’t be marketed as a barley wine (due to strength). Today, there are beers marketed as old ales that are not aged and are only about 4% ABV. They might resemble a strong(ish) mild. Such beers represent an area where an old ale couldn’t also be marketed as a barley wine (without causing someone to raise an eyebrow). Such beers are probably quite rare today though.

 

Now I’m lost. Bell’s Third Coast Old Ale is classified as … wait for it… barleywine! Which I didn’t think about until looking it up just a moment ago. But why?

 

I had to zoom in on the label to find that! Clearly, this would have been easier with a
bottle in front of me.

They don’t (or no longer?) describe it as such in the copy.