The Spirit World

I like to drink with the seasons. When winter comes that means I get thirsty for darker, stronger beers. Last month I told you about darker beers: stouts and porters. This month I’ve decided to tell you about stronger beers, specifically a style of beer called barleywine.

A barleywine is not (as the name implies) wine. There are no grapes in a barleywine. It’s made out of barley, water, hops, and yeast just like any other beer. It got the “wine” moniker because of its high alcohol strength, typically ranging from 8 to 12% ABV, but as with any strong beer there is always a brewer who want to push the style to the limit and so you’ll find some examples pushing 15% (cf. Olde School by Dogfish Head, of course).

I’ve noticed that many barleywine brewers like to name these strong beers after monsters, some well-known, others fanciful: Monster Ale from Brooklyn Brewery; Bigfoot Ale from Sierra Nevada Brewing Company; and Horn Dog from Flying Dog Brewery. Another naming convention is to put the modifier “Old” in front of another word: Old Foghorn from Anchor Brewing; Old Crustacean from Rogue Ales; and a local Long Island favorite, Old Howling Bastard from Blue Point Brewing Company. The joke about these beers is that if you drink too much of it, you’ll turn into the beer’s namesake. I’ve been accused of dipping too much into Weyerbacher’s Blithering Idiot.

Brewers have divided barleywines into two categories: English and American. In general you can assume that these descriptors will tell you something about the hop character of the beer and just how bitter you can expect the beer to be. The English version is generally less bitter than the American. Whether English or American, you can expect barleywines to be sweet with a strong malty character and a varying degree of bitterness. Some barleywines have fruity characteristics and most finish with a pronounced alcoholic heat. These beers are for sipping.

Check your local beer shop for a barleywine or two and split a bottle with a friend or four. I would suggest serving barleywine in small snifter glasses or wine glasses so you can get your nose in the glass. Also, I’ve often paired barleywine with dessert. My wife has made tiramisu — actually beer-amisu — by replacing the rum with Flying Dog’s Horn Dog. Be creative in your barleywine dessert pairing and let me know if you discover any good combinations.