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A Bevy of Barley Wines - March 2001A few years ago, in the pages of the now-defunct Beer Connoisseur magazine, I wrote the following: In Carl Forget's Dictionary of Beer and Brewing, a barley wine is defined as "any top-fermented beer of unusually high, wine-like alcohol content prepared from worts of 1.065 to 1.120 original gravity yielding about 12% alcohol by volume," but in truth, a barley wine is more a concept than it is a dictionary definition. How, for instance, can you scientifically spell out the intense, almost masochistically satisfying hop assault of a Rogue Old Crustacean? Or the dangerous drinkability of the 14% alcohol No.1 Barley Wine from Tall Ship Brewing? Or the puzzlingly pleasurable complexity of an Anchor Old Foghorn or Young's Old Nick? How indeed? I still stand by these words and maintain that, of all the infuriatingly difficult to define beer styles in the world, barley wine is perhaps the hardest to pin down. So you might well wonder what got into me when I recently agreed not only to make my third pilgrimage to judge the final round of annual barley wine festival at San Francisco's Toronado beer bar, but also to host a tasting of thirteen exceptional barley wines in Los Angeles less than a week later. And to tell you the truth, there were points on that trip when I wondered the same thing. There were 41 barley wines and strong ales on tap at the Toronado, although I and my fellow panel members were mercifully limited to judging only a half-dozen on the final round. For me, the selection of number one was easy -- I sniffed all six in succession, and when I got to the remarkably complex and enticing aroma of number five, I knew I had found my winner. It was 1996 vintage Old Crustacean from Rogue Ales of Oregon, and the only thing left for me was to present my case to the other five judges. Which, I might add, was hardly an easy task. For that matter, even picking the best three of the six was a challenge. In contrast to the last time I judged at the Toronado, when a general lack of outstanding character in the final round left us grasping for a victor, all six of this year's candidate beers had their own merit and appeal. One judge was with me, three were against us. Much discussion ensued, plus debate, conflict, compromise and even a bit of water thrown in jest. In the end, we were left with three top picks: the Rogue, Russian River Brewing's Old Gubbillygotch from Guerneville, California, and another local brew, the 2001 Odyssey from Triple Rock of Berkeley. I favoured the complexity of Rogue, followed by the elegance and clean structure of the Russian River and then the more heavyweight punch of the Triple Rock ale. Others disagreed, and in the spirit of compromise, I bowed to their Triple Rock preference and agreed to place it in second place so that I could assure the Rogue of the top spot. But still, I was left wondering what all this meant in terms of defining barley wine. A scant four days later, I found myself at the Four Points Sheraton LAX Hotel presenting a baker's dozen of barley wines and strong ales to a crowd of more than eighty enthusiasts. Included in this group of brews was the 1999 J.W. Lee's Harvest Ale aged in and poured from a sherry cask, the recently award-winning and impressively intense Arctic Devil Barley Wine from Anchorage, Alaska's Midnight Sun Brewing, the intensely fragrant Burley Barley Wine from Pasadena, California's Craftsman Brewing, younger (1999) and decidedly more intensely hoppy Old Crustacean, the Bush/Scaldis No. 1 from Pipaix, Belgium's Brasserie Dubuisson, and from London, Young's Old Nick Barley Wine. Fortunately for the host -- me -- there was not a dog in the bunch. Okay, there was one dog, but it was intentional. Alan Sprints from Portland, Oregon's Hair of the Dog Brewing brought his new barley wine, Fido, to the tasting, and I'm pleased to report that it stood out proudly. In fact, along with the Sierra Nevada Bigfoot (from Chico, California), Fido probably went the furthest of the lot towards defining what a twenty-first century barley wine should be. Like Bigfoot, Fido is strong, profoundly flavourful, hoppy but in balance, not cloying, and beautifully complex in its presentation of flavour. Perhaps most importantly, however, it is the kind of beer you would like to curl up with on a long winter's night.
Feedback?We're very interested in your news, notes, comments and questions, so please feel free to contact SBWoB by clicking on the link below. Or you can add your comments when you sign up for the World of Beer Update, a mid-month e-mail newsletter that brings even more of the world of beer to your computer. Send Feedback To: beaumont@worldofbeer.com Bright Beer - Kitchen Table Tastings - Feature - Taste of the Month Copyright 1997 - 2006 © - Stephen Beaumont |