There’s something about Winter weather and Barleywine that make it a great pairing. The cold, crisp air and warming sensation of all the alcohol match well. The name is fairly obvious, a barley that nearly matches a wine in terms of strength. According to the BJCP “A very strong, malty, hoppy, bitter American ale with a rich palate, full mouthfeel, and warming aftertaste, suitable for contemplative sipping.” The American tend for more hop forward character often, where the English are more balanced or malt forward. The color range can vary dramatically from copper through brown, but today’s tasting features a black one. This is a big beer that ranges 8 to 12% abv, better examples have warmth but not a harsh alcohol character. 

When we went to Vermont on vacation a while back, we stopped in at Rock Art Brewery, and had their barleywine the Vermonster. Very American in fashion with bold hop character, but they did something very unique a cheese pairing with it. When you tried one cheese all the hops came forward, with the second malt character dominated. If you’re ever in the area it’s well worth stopping in.

We have four beers in today’s selection, but they were sampled over the course of  3 different nights, because well, moderation.

Atomic Clock Brewing Co, Bossloper Whiskey Barrel – Aged Black Barleywine, 10.7% abv

The deep black color is a stand out difference immediately, most examples are lighter. The whiskey barrel age is very present in the nose. It mentions Blackstrap Molasses on the bottle and generally that gives a nice dryness, it also mentions toasted marshmallows and caramelized dates, but those characteristics I didn’t really pick up. I think the whiskey barrel character dominated the beer. It had a nice aged character and depth came out as it warmed. It is in stores around the Triangle currently.

Fortuna Komes Barleywine, 12% abv

Based in Poland I found this at Total Wine, the only example of the style in the store. This beer featured an amber hue with light off white foam. It had a rich caramel aroma. It’s a medium body beer but had little in the way of alcoholic warmth to it. Rather one note caramel flavor, but not a depth often featured in the style.

Sierra Nevada, Bigfoot, 9.6% abv

Deep amber with light off foam. It had warmth of dried fruits and raisins in the nose, with a rich caramel character, while plum and date character didn’t seem to stand out as much as the nose presented. I think the beer was a bit young, but it’s still available in stores so I’m going to find a six pack to age and compare next year.

Trophy Brewing, Gravity Always Wins 12% abv

This was a bonus beer, I’d forgotten it was in the garage refrigerator and the Alewif rediscovered it. According to her Untappd she thinks we found it in 2023. Another barrel aged barleywine this one aged in Weller 12 bourbon barrel. It featured a light amber foam and the head disappeared so rapidly I didn’t note the color. The aroma rich notes of plum and dates with a hint of bourbon. Rich aged character with notes of stonefruit and friend cherry. The barrel character was there throughout and became more pronounced as it warmed. Alewif would have liked a little more carbonation but of the four this was our favorite. The beer is not currently in production and we kept ours cold, but worth trying if you run across it.