English Barleywine - 2014 Tasting

I'm excited to finally get the chance to do the first (of many I hope) tasting of the English Barleywine I brewed back on Memorial Day 2014.  I brewed it with the specific intention of drinking one or two a year for the next 10 years or so and monitoring it's progress.  I split the batch into two and aged one plain and one with brandy soaked oak cubes.

The fermentation was vigorous (lots of blowoff) but it seemed to be fairly clean.  It attenuated quite a bit further than I was hoping.  The samples I took were hot from the high alcohol but they didn't seem to have any fusel chracter.  This is probably to be expected with a young beer that is 11% ABV.  I figured the long aging would do the beer well.

I feel like I've come a long way since this batch (in terms of understanding of fermentability and of the many yeast varieties).  Brewing this beer was a nice learning experience for trying my own recipes and brewing a big beer.  I think it could be a nice jumping off point for the next Barleywine I brew (Memorial Day 2015).

Plain Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:
• Dark fruit, alcohol, and estery fruitiness are the primary smells.  No hops or malt coming through.  Very fruity.
• Appearance:
• Muddy and cloudy brown.  Not sure why it's so muddy - the Strong Brown I made next had the same issue.  I bottled both of these with a wine yeast - suspect that might have contributed.  I used a different wine yeast with my Berliner Wiesse and it cleared pretty nicely.  Will use that yeast next time.
• Flavor:
• Fruity ester character and alcohol dominate.  There is some bready malt in there as well.  As it warms the flavor rounds out a lot and becomes much fuller - the alcohol fades and the fruitiness and some caramel come to the fore.  Nothing I could pick out as hop bitterness - I used quite a bit of low alpha acid hops on this batch.  Could use a bit of bitterness.  The alcohol flavor lingers on the finish.
• Mount-feel:
• It's a pretty sharp/firm drink.  Hot from the alcohol.  Pretty thin - would have been better if it had finished at a bit higher FG.
• Overall:
• Pretty boozy at this point.  Even at 7 months old it seems like it needs more time to mellow.  Much better on the warmer side but still pretty harsh.  It will be interesting to see how this tastes with another year on it.

Brandy/Oaked Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:
• Very similar to the plain half but this one also has a distinct oak/vanilla aroma to it.  There is nothing I could pick out as the brandy.
• Appearance:
• Identical to the plain half.
• Flavor:
• Pronounced oak flavor mingles nicely with the fruitiness.  Reminds me of the oak levels in a red wine.  No extra booziness from the brandy which is nice - can't really pick out any contribution from the brandy though.  Vanilla from the oak lingers in the finish more than the alcohol.
• Mouth-feel:
• Same as the plain
• Overall:
• The oak really serves to soften the beer quite a bit.  It is much less harsh and is easier drinking than the plain half somehow.  Has a very nice level of complexity at this point.  Still pretty boozy but that is expected with an 11% beer.  The oak half is quite a bit better at this point.