I have brewed an English Barleywine every year, on Memorial Day, since 2014. I drink half the batch the next year and then store the other half to be tasted once a year with the idea that these big, sweet, and complex beers will benefit from aging. This will be a vertical tasting of the beers I've brewed so far to assess their progress as they've aged.
It has been very interesting to track the progress of the beers over the years (read about previous tastings: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024). Most of the beers use different recipes and it is interesting how many are similar but have different levels of sweetness, fruitiness, and maltiness and how that changes the drinking experience. I think they're all very nice tasting beers
When I had fewer beers I would taste them all in one sitting but it was limiting my enjoyment (which was the only point of any of this). For the last few years I have been attempting to compare and rank them using tasting notes and scoring. This is a fun way of doing things but drinking one beer a day it's tough to know for sure my scoring is consistent. Even so, I've decided to continue this ranking exercise (thinking it might yield some meaningful data if continued over many years)
Results:
2019 Version (Beer A):
- Overview:
- Brewed using a historical recipe for Eldridge Pope's Hardy's Ale from the Shut Up about Barclay Perkins Blog
- Used a mix of 2 Row and Maris otter, 4.5 lbs of Flaked wheat, and 1.5 lb of crystal
- Used WLP 099 Super High Gravity which is supposed to be Eldridge Pope's house strain
- Fermented from 1.120 to 1.010 which is a crazy 16% ABV
- Hopped with 8.5 oz of Fuggle
- Aged with 1 oz Cabernet soaked Toasted Oak
- Tasting Notes (38 of 50)
- Aroma (7 of 12):
- Overripe fruit and a funky yeast character. A bit of caramel and some aged alcohol notes. Fairly mild but nice
- Appearance (2 of 3):
- Reddish brown and very clear. Poured with 1 finger of head that dissipated immediately
- Flavor (17 of 20):
- Fruity up front with some nice dark malty flavors next. Nice and rich flavor. The finish is slightly sweet with some bitterness offering a hint of balance. Alcohol is present in the flavor It has a chocolate-like note in there as well.
- Mouthfeel (4 of 5):
- Medium full bodied and fairly smooth. It has noticeable alcohol warming
- Overall (8 of 10):
- This is a rich and complex beer. It's strong but has a mellow alcohol character which I think I'll attribute to a long aging period. I think the flavors are very nice and it drinks well
2015 Version (Beer B):
- Overview:
- Brewed with Maris Otter, Vienna Malt and down to 2 lbs of Crystal. Was trying for a more pale beer but ended up darker.
- Used Wyeast 1968 London ESB Ale Yeast
- Beer fermented from 1.096 to 1.006 for 12-13% ABV
- Aged with 1 oz of pre-boiled oak cubes
- Tasting Notes (35 of 50):
- Aroma (8 of 12):
- Fruity, almost like a cider smell. Also get a bit of toast malt from it. A mild aged alcohol smell in there too
- Appearance (2 of 3):
- Reddish brown and very clear. Poured with a 1 finger head the dissipated immediately
- Flavor (15 of 20):
- A little fruity up front followed by a bready malt character. Slightly sweet on the finish with some bitterness. There is a boozy character to it as well. Has a pretty strong ester character on the finish
- Mouthfeel (3 of 5):
- Medium bodied and not that sticky on the palate. Not exactly smooth drinking but not harsh either. Detectable alcohol warming
- Overall (7 of 10):
- It has some bold flavors and a reasonably good amount of complexity. I think it leans quite a bit on the ester character with malt coming in much less - tastes good and is an interesting beer but I think they're better with a bit more malt character than this
2023 Version (Beer C):
- Overview:
- This was a recipe somewhat inspired by Goose Island's famous King Henry
- Uses Golden Promise as the base and a mix of Munich, Caramel Wheat, and double roasted srystal for a darker English Barleywine
- Bittered with Target and Styrian Goldings
- Fermented with WLP005 British Ale
- The beer fermented from 1.1.00 to 1.032 for 9% ABV
- Tasting Notes (37 of 50):
- Aroma (9 of 12):
- Fruity yeast ester, toasted bread, and caramel. I get a subtle hint of booze in there as well. It has a very pleasing smell.
- Appearance (3 of 3):
- Pours with a 2 finger head which dissipates down to a thin layer after a couple of minutes. Copper colored and very clear
- Flavor (15 of 20):
- Caramel malt and light toasty flavor up front with light fruitiness. The finish is only lightly sweet and it has a very mild bitterness which offers a fair amount of balance. It has a slightly boozy flavor
- Mouthfeel (3 of 5):
- Medium bodied and only slightly sticky on the palate. Not exactly smooth but not harsh either.
- Overall (7 of 10):
- This is a fairly dry version which is also fairly malt forward with fairly faint yeast ester character. The flavors are nice but I wouldn't say it has that much going on. It's pretty easy drinking with strength but a mellow alcohol character
2024 Version (Beer D):
- Overview:
- This was a rebrew of my first English Barleywine (2014). A recipe I came up with
- This iteration uses Golden Promise rather than Marris Otter and a heftier dose of bittering hops based on my observation that these don't last long and the hope that more would sustain the bitterness a bit longer
- The beer was fermented with S04 and Nottingham like the first version but, this time, they only took it down to 1.034
- I aged this one with a lot of brandy soaked oak
- Tasting Notes (44 of 50):
- Aroma (10 of 12):
- Caramel and toasted bread along with a fruity ester character. A little booze in there as well. It is a nice smell and fairly bold
- Appearance (2 of 3):
- Pours with just a little foam. It's copper colored and not quite clear
- Flavor (18 of 20):
- Caramel and toasted malt flavors up front along with a fruity character. The finish is sweet but it has a bit of hop bitterness to it that balances things. It has a chocolate-like flavor. Only a hint of booze.
- Mouthfeel (5 of 5):
- Full bodied and a little sticky on the palate. Drinks very smooth
- Overall (9 of 10):
- The flavors are very nice and it has a good amount of complexity. I like the sweetness and that there is some bitterness there to balance it. The malt flavors are the primary component here. I really like it
2016 Version (Beer E):
- Overview:
- Brewed with Maris Otter, 3 lbs of Rye Malt, and 1.5 lbs Double Roasted Crystal 120 L
- Fermented with Wyeast 1335 British Ale II
- Beer went from 1.093 to 1.012 which is 10-11% ABV
- It ended up forming a pellicle during aging although I never really picked up any flavors I'd attribute to wild yeast or bacteria
- Tasting Notes (40 of 50)
- Aroma (8 of 12):
- Smells sweet. Bready and caramel with a bit of fruit. Has a musty smell as well
- Appearance (3 of 3):
- Pours with a 1 finger head that quickly fades to nothing. Dard redish brown and very clear
- Flavor (17 of 20):
- Dark malt flavor - caramel. A little fruity ester character in there as well. The finish is slightly sweet. There is a mild bitterness to it. You can taste the booze but it's pretty mellow. Has an almost medicinal character to it - sort of reminds me of cherry. The flavors are bold and quite nice
- Mouthfeel (4 of 5):
- Medium-full bodied and a little sticky on the pallet. It drinks very smoothly.
- Overall (8 of 10):
- This is a bold and characterful beer with a pretty nice complex set of flavors between malt and fruity ester character. It is sweet and boozy like you'd want an English Barleywine to be
2017 Version (Beer F):
- Overview:
- Brewed with 2 Row and Golden Promise as base malt and 5 lbs of white wheat malt. Only used 4 oz of Crystal. This finally achieved my goal of a pale barleywine.
- Fermented with Wyeast 1335 British Ale II again
- I'd wanted to get a fairly sweet barleywine on my previous version but had kept on getting more attenuation than desired. This time I finally got one to stop at 1.034 (from 1.098). So this is an 8-9% ABV beer.
- The beer was aged with 15 oz of Rum soaked golden raisin along with 0.5 oz of oak
- Tasting Notes (43 of 50)
- Aroma (10 of 12):
- Overripe fruit and a musty aged aroma. A bit of sweet malt in there too - caramel and toasted bread.
- Appearance (2 of 3):
- Dark gold and clear. Poured with a finger of head that immediately faded to nothing
- Flavor (18 of 20):
- Fruity with caramel and toasty bread flavors. The finish is slightly sweet. There is no real bitterness to it. The toasty and bready flavors linger on the palate. It's just a little boozy on the finish.
- Mouthfeel (4 of 5):
- Medium-full bodied and a little sticky on the palate. Drinks very smoothly
- Overall (9 of 10):
- I think this one is a nicely flavored beer. The flavor and aroma are bold. It also has a good amount of complexity between the malt and fruity ester flavors. It's sweet and a bit boozy but is pretty easy to drink
2018 Version (Beer G):
- Overview:
- Brewed using a historical recipe for Eldridge Pope's Hardy's Ale from the Shut Up about Barclay Perkins Blog
- Used a mix of 2 Row and Maris otter, 3.5 lbs of Flaked wheat, and 1.5 lb of crystal
- Used Nottingham yeast and, per instruction, allowed it to ferment in the 70s. It was an agressive fermentation which produced a very strong and estery aroma. The beer didn't turn out to be overly estery fortunately.
- Fermented out to 1.030 from 1.105 for an ABV of 10-11%
- This was the most aggressively hopped beer so far (7.5 oz of low alpha acid English hop in the boil) with an IBU target of 84. Was very bitter just after fermentation but this had settled to a nice balance after 6 months of aging.
- Tasting Notes (44 of 50)
- Aroma (9 of 12):
- Toasty and bready malt along with a mild fruity ester character and booze. I think it's a very nice smelling barleywine
- Appearance (3 of 3):
- Poured with a 1 finger head that lingered for a minute or so and then fades to a thin layer. Reddish brown and very clear
- Flavor (18 of 20):
- Rich bready malt character - get some caramel as well. A little fruit character in there as well. The finish is sweet and there is a very mild bitter flavor in there as well. Maybe get a hint of chocolate. A bit of booze.
- Mouthfeel (5 of 5):
- Full bodied and sticky on the palate. Drinks very smooth. Warming alcohol is felt
- Overall (9 of 10):
- This is a very nice Barleywine with a rich malt forward character. It has a good amount of complexity as well with the subtle fruity character. It is smooth, sweet, and strong as well which are all nice characteristics
2022 Version (Beer H):
- Overview:
- Based on a historical recipe for 1954 Tennant's Gold Label. This is the same recipe used for the 2021 version
- Used Marris Otter, 5 lbs of Corn (which is quite interesting) and 2.5 lbs of Invert #1
- Primary fermented with Whitbread Ale Yeast (Wyeast 1099) which is the Tennant strain
- Secondary ferment with Brett Anomalus (WLP 640) which is a "Yeast Vault" product which was isolated from historical English beers and thought to be prevalent in a beer meant to be aged (like this one)
- This started at 1.110 and ended at 1.020 (Brett took it down from 1.030) for an ABV of 12% ABV
- Tasting Notes (40 of 50)
- Aroma (11 of 12):
- Bold fruity aroma with a bit of caramel malt. A little boozy. Has a somewhat wine-like and oak character as well.
- Appearance (3 of 3):
- Pours with 1 finger head that last a couple minutes. Dark gold in color and very clear.
- Flavor (16 of 20):
- Fruity and malty. It is an interesting and difficult to describe fruit character - maybe pineapple. The finish is slightly sweet. No real bitterness. It has a pretty strong boozy character.
- Mouthfeel (3 of 5):
- Medium bodied and a little harsh on the palate - feel the alcohol
- Overall (7 of 10):
- It is a bold and characterful beer. It is big and boozy as well. The flavor is probably more towards fruity ester than it is malt and the malt is not that complex a character
2020 Version (Beer I):
- Overview:
- Brewed using a historical recipe for 1940 Truman Stock 1 from Shut Up about Barclay Perkins Blog
- I ended up using Vienna and Melanoiden Malts with the idea of replacing the "high dried malt" called for (may have been way off base on these). Recipe also used a lb of Invert #3
- Used 7.5 oz of Cluster and Fuggle in this batch
- Fermented with Wyeast 1028 London Ale which is supposed to be the Truman brewery's house strain
- Tasting Notes (42 of 50):
- Aroma (10 of 12):
- Toasted bread and caramel. A little bit of fruity ester in there and a bit of booze.
- Appearance (3 of 3):
- Dark reddish brown. Pours with a 1 finger head that fades down to a thin layer around the glass over several minutes. Very clear.
- Flavor (17 of 20):
- Toasty, bready, and caramel malt flavors dominate. The finish is fairly sweet and there is a slight bitterness to balance. Just get the slightest hint of fruity ester character. A little booze in there as well. Maybe get a bit of chocolate character as well
- Mouthfeel (4 of 5):
- Medium-full bodied and a little sticky on the palate. It's a smooth drinking beer
- Overall (8 of 10):
- This is a very tasty showcase of rich malt character. It has a nice amount of complexity even without much of a fruity component. It's sweet and boozy but still very drinkable
2021 Version (Beer J):
- Overview:
- Brewed using a historical recipe (1954 Tennant's Gold Label) from the Shut Up about Barclay Perkins Blog
- Kind of an unusual beer in that it uses a large amount of Corn (5 lbs). Also uses 2 lbs of Invert Syrup which is the first time I've used it for one of these beers.
- Used Willamette hops for bittering and East Kent Goldings for flavor
- Aged the beer with 2 oz of brandy soaked oak
- Fermented with S04 while the beer called for Wyeast 1099 Whitbread strain. I'd understood S04 was a Whitbread strain but may not be quite the same as 1099
- Tasting Notes (43 of 50)
- Aroma (8 of 12):
- Fruity ester character is prominent along with a boozy character
- Appearance (3 of 3):
- Pours with a 1 finger head that settles to a ring around the glass in a few minutes. Light reddish brown and very clear
- Flavor (18 of 20):
- Caramel malt and fruity ester character up front. It is sweet on the finish. Very faint hop bitterness. Booze is there but it's in the background. It's a bold flavor
- Mouthfeel (5 of 5):
- Full bodied and a bit sticky on the palate. It's very smooth drinking. Warming alcohol is present
- Overall (9 of 10):
- This is a very nice tasting beer with bold malt and fruit character. It has very good amount of complexity. It's quite sweet and boozy as well
2014 Version (Beer K):
- Overview:
- Brewed with Maris Otter and 3 lbs of assorted light crystal malts. I was hoping for a light colored beer - got a bit darker than I'd hoped.
- Fermented with S04 and Nottingham
- The beer fermented all the way down to 1.016 from 1.101 which is 11-12% ABV
- Tasting Notes (38 of 50)
- Aroma (8 of 12):
- Malty and a little fruity. Has a bit of a musty and aged smell to it. A bit of booze
- Appearance (3 of 3):
- Dark brown and very clear. Pours with a 1 finger head that quickly dissipates down to nothing
- Flavor (16 of 20):
- Caramel and toasted bread. A little fruit in there as well. The finish is slightly sweet - no real bitterness to this one. Has an aged alcohol flavor.
- Mouthfeel (4 of 5):
- Medium-full bodied and a little sticky on the palate. It's very smooth
- Overall (7 of 10):
- This tastes like an old beer. Flavors are somewhat muted but nice. It has a pretty good amount of complexity between malt and what I'm thinking are "aged flavors"
I drank all my beers at cellar temperature. I chose not to refresh my memory on the details of these beers and made not attempt to guess which was which. Except for the Brett beer, I didn't have a real guess for which was which during this tasting.
The rankings this year:
- 2018 (44)
- 2024 (44)
- 2017 (43)
- 2021 (43)
- 2020 (42)
- 2016 (40)
- 2022 (40)
- 2014 (38)
- 2019 (38)
- 2023 (37)
- 2015 (35)
