Barley wine

Barley wines' colour ranges from a translucent deep amber, to cloudy mahogany (left), to an almost opaque black (right).

Barley wine or Barleywine is a beer style of strong ale originating in England. The first beer to be marketed as Barley Wine was Bass No. 1 Ale, around 1900. The term "barley wine" had been used before in other contexts,^[1] for example in translations of Xenophon's Anabasis (although it may have referred to regular grape wine with cooked barley in it).^[2]

Characteristics

A barley wine typically reaches an alcohol strength of 8 to 12% by volume and is brewed from specific gravities as high as 1.120. It is called a barley wine because it can be as strong as wine; but since it is made from grain rather than fruit it is in fact a beer. In the United States, barley wines are required for this reason to be called "barley wine-style ales."

Most barley wines range in colour from amber to deep reddish-browns, though until the introduction of Whitbread Gold Label in the 1950s, British barley wines were always dark in colour.

Writer Michael Jackson referred to a barley wine by Smithwick's thus: "This is very distinctive, with an earthy hoppiness, a wineyness, lots of fruit and toffee flavours." He also noted that its original gravity is 1.062.^[3]

According to Martyn Cornell "no historically meaningful difference exists between barley wines and old ales."

Style statistics

• Original gravities: 1.090-1.120
• Alcohol: 8.5-12 percent
• Bitterness: 50-100 IBU (International Bitterness Units)
• Color: 24-48 EBC (European Brewery Convention)

Examples

Australia

• Special Reserve from Redoak Brewery
• Murray's Anniversary Ale from Murray's Brewery

Brazil

• Red Ale from Baden Baden

Canada

• Olde Deuteronomy from Alley Kat Brewing Company
• Solstice d'hiver from Dieu du Ciel
• St-Ambroise Vintage Ale from McAuslan Brewing Company
• Burlywine from Half Pints Brewing Company
• Barley Wine from Mill Street Brewery
• Burley from Phillips Brewing Company
• Ol' fog burner from Garrison Brewing Company

Ireland

• Smithwick's Barley Wine from Diageo

United Kingdom

• Bass No 1 Barley Wine from White Shield Brewery (brewed occasionally)
• Elizabethan Ale from Harvey & Son
• Gold Label from Whitbread
• Golden Pride, and Vintage Ale from Fuller's
• Old Nick from Young's
• Old Tom from Robinson's Brewery
• Strong Golden from Samuel Smiths
• Thomas Hardy's Ale from O'Hanlon's, Devon
• JW Lees's Vintage Harvest

New Zealand

• Enigma from The Twisted Hop

Sweden

• Nils Oscar Barley Wine from Nils Oscar Bryggeri och Bränneri

Denmark

• Mikkeller Big Worse from Mikkeller
• Mikkeller Mikkel's Monster from Mikkeller
• Gourmetbryggeriet Barley Brew Gourmetbryggeriet

United States

• Alaskan Barley Wine Ale from Alaskan Brewing Co.
• Angel’s Share from Lost Abbey
• Arctic Devil Barley Wine from Midnight Sun Brewing Co.
• Bigfoot Ale from Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
• Blithering Idiot from Weyerbacher Brewing Company
• Castle Hill Summer Barley Wine from Mercury Brewing Company
• Devil's Tooth Barley Wine Sockeye Grill & Brewery
• Fred from Hair of the Dog Brewing Company
• Hog Heaven from Avery Brewing Company
• Horn Dog Barley Wine from Flying Dog Brewery
• John Barleycorn Barleywine Ale from Mad River Brewing Company
• Mirror Mirror from Deschutes Brewery
• Monster Ale from Brooklyn Brewery
• Old Bawdy from The Pike Brewing Company
• Old Crustacean from Rogue Ales
• Old Foghorn from Anchor Brewing Company
• Old Guardian from Stone Brewing Company
• Old Gubbillygotch from Russian River Brewing Company
• Old Horizontal from Victory Brewing Company
• Old Howling Bastard from Blue Point Brewing Company
• Old Ruffian from Great Divide Brewing Company
• Olde School from Dogfish Head Brewery
• Ridge Runner (Vermonster) from Rock Art Brewery

See also

• Old ale
• Quadrupel

References

External links

• CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) description of Barley Wine