Poor old Brown ale, it’s a fantastic style with a good range from solid English maltiness to American examples that can have a more hop forward character. For the last ten to fifteen years it’s a style that dropped off while IPAs and Lagers took the spotlight. I was brewing at a place when we saw the trend while IPAs might sell 4 half barrels (15.5 gallons) a week, it took between two to three weeks to sell one keg of Brown ale. That’s when word came down, it’s moving from year round to a Winter seasonal. I did get complaints in the taproom, but my response was “if you loved that beer you would have been drinking more of it.”

According to BJCP “A malty but hoppy standard-strength American ale frequently with chocolate and caramel flavors. The hop flavor and aroma complement and enhance the malt rather than clashing with it.” Better examples have a not just chocolate character but a malt depth sometimes from using different crystal malts. I like a Brown with a subtle English hop note. Moderate in gravity with a rand 4.0-6.2% abv.

Armored Cow Brewing, Bitchin’ Betty, 5.4% abv

The lightest color of the days beer, brown on the table but more of an amber hue when the glass was raised, with light tan foam. Low aroma with no chocolate or hop character, canned this year so still fairly fresh. It featured a light sweetness, likely the most balanced beer of the day. It reminded me of Newcastle.

Pisgah Brewing, Turtleback Brown, 5.9% abv – draft not pictured

Very roasty nose on this beer, it was a deep brown color that had an amber hue when put to the light, foam was a light tan color. The beer seemed light on the crystal character but strong chocolate character. For an American Brown the hop character was rather subdued. Quite an enjoyable draft.

Viciour Fishes Brewery, Into the Abyss Brown Ale, 5.3%

Deep brown color with light tan foam, with garnet-ruby highlights as brought to light. Aroma was a rich roasty, chocolate with a hint of hop character. The beer featured nice sweetness and the roast didn’t dominate the flavor as much as the nose advertised.

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.

This week’s style is barrel aged stouts, I talked a bit about barrel aging here, but we will focus a little deeper this time. As to BJCP states “An intensely-flavored, very strong, very dark stout with a broad range of interpretations. Roasty-burnt malt with a depth of dark or dried fruit flavors, and a warming, bittersweet finish. Despite the intense flavors, the components need to meld together to create a complex, harmonious beer, not a hot mess – sometimes only accomplished with age.” The key often with these beers is aging and if your aging steel is rather boring, why not a nice bit of oak to add an extra level of complexity. Bourbon barrels are often the go to but these days there is a great range of barrels on the market from wine barrels to South American hard woods. There is enough material to write a book and in fact Dick Cantwell and Peter Bouckaert did in the great Wood & Beer: A Brewers Guide.

While high gravity beers were all the rage pre-COVID, they seem to have fallen out of favor and finding three examples took some work.

Allagash Brewing, Gatherwell, 11% abv

Deep Black hue with a chocolate foam. It featured a rich mixture of caramel and roast in the taste and a thick syrup consistency. While it says it’s Bourbon barrel aged, I didn’t really get it, though the Alewif detected it.

Goose Island, Bourbon County Brand Stout, 14.8% abv

Bourbon County Brand Stout was an original in the market, one of the first true Whales until after InBev bought Goose Island and kicked production into overdrive. Released on Black Friday each year, it used to be gone that day, but now it lingers on the market into the New Year. There are a number of variations these days but we stuck to the classic for the tasting. Black with a very dark foam. This beer had a rich roast character with notes of plum and raisin. It matched Allagash in complexity but with the Bourbon character more present. It had a nice balance, clear why it remains so popular today. If you want to learn more about the beer and Goose Island’s story check out Barrel-Aged Stout and Selling Out by Josh Noel. Lastly there is a North Carolina connection to the beer, Seth Gross of Bull City Burger and Burger worked at Goose Island around when the beer hit national fame.

BMC Brewing, Barrel Aged Manneken Stout, 10.1% abv

While barrel aged, this one had mentions of rye barrel but it had notes of vanilla the others didn’t have. I believe it was fermented on the cooler side as I didn’t have the strong phenols or spice I associate with a Belgian yeast. There was a malt complexity present and a bit more bitterness than the other two beers.