What the Heck is a Barley Wine?


If you've been to my Welcome Page lately, you may have noticed the bulletin about a Barley Wine Festival. The question I'm receiving from a lot of people is "What the heck is Barley Wine?"

Barley Wines are basically very potent English Ales, they are made from grain like beers and not grapes. However they do have a high alcohol content, generally ranging from 6 to 12 percent by volume.These beers are usually winter seasonal brews or winter warmers and are very alcoholic and full bodied. Barley Wines are brewed with much larger amounts of grain than other beers. This makes for a sweeter beer that is usually balanced out by the brewer with an increased hop bitterness. The colors generally range from golden to deep copper. The high level of hops and alcohol enable them to be aged like fine wines. Some Barley Wines are aged over twenty years!

These are not beers to be chugged in pint glasses. They often come in 7 ounce bottles. Many brewpubs serve them in smaller glasses to be sipped and savored.( Also probably for liability purposes! )These are potent beverages meant to be slowly enjoyed. Some of the commercial names like Blithering Idiot, Old Horizontal, I'll Have What the Gentleman on the Floor is Having, will reinforce this lesson. I highly recommend a designated driver if your stepping out to enjoy these beers.

Some excellent commercial examples of Barley Wines are:

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale

Rogue Ales Old Crustacean

Victory Brewing Company Old Horizontal

Thomas Hardy's Ale

As an after dinner drink, I think Barley Wines are best paired with a quality cigar, but in a pinch a rich chocolate cake will suffice.

Easy Black Forest Cake

  • 1 package devil's food cake mix with pudding
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon almond extract
  • 1 can cherry pie filling
  • 1-1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
    2. Mix together: cake mix, beaten eggs, almond extract, cherry pie filling and 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips. Stir until just combined. Pour batter into a greased 9x13 inch pan.
    3. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove cake from oven and let cool.

    The copyright of the article What the Heck is a Barley Wine? in Beer Recommendations is owned by Richard T Curtin. Permission to republish What the Heck is a Barley Wine? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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