English Barleywine (2021 Version) - Tasting Notes

This is my eighth version of the English Barleywine style of beer.  These are beers that are strong and often very sweet which allows them to age well.  They are often hopped aggressively (as was this version with low AA English hops) which makes them quite bitter young.  Over time they hops fade and complex malt, fruity yeast derived flavors, and aged flavors become more prominent.  I've brewed this beer with the intention of drinking half of this relatively fresh this year and to drink the remaining half over the next 25 years or so.

I choose a different recipe every year to keep things interesting.  This year I chose a historical recipe from the Shut Up About Barclay Perkins Blog: 1954 Tennant’s Gold Label.  This was an interesting recipe in that it used Flaked Corn at a high percentage (20% which was 5 lbs worth in my brewing) as well as Invert Syrup (which is a common ingredient in English Beers but not typically in Barleywine in my experience).

I hit my OG numbers and used the recommended yeast for this beer (S04, the Whitbread Strain) but ended up finishing quite a bit higher in FG than the recipe called for 1.040 vs 1.024.  I let the beer sit in primary for 2 months, secondary for 4 months with a couple ounces of Brandy Soaked Oak, bottled almost 3 months ago now and am very much enjoying the beer.

Time to do a first set of tasting notes now.

Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:
• Boozy with a bit of overripe fruit character.  I get some herbal hop character and maybe some caramel and bready malt - maybe some graham cracker in there.  Has some oak character that cuts through as well
• Appearance:
• Pours with a thin layer of foam that quickly dissipates down to nothing.  Dark golden brown in color and fairly clear
• Flavor:
• Sweet up front with caramel and lightly toasted bread flavors.  After that I get a hit of alcohol, some fruitiness (indistinct in character) and then a bit of grassy hop flavor.  The finish has a fairly assertive bitterness which almost balances out the sweet malt - bitterness and sweetness linger together for some time after the swallow.
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium-full bodied and pretty sticky on the palate.  Has a bit of astringency to it.
• Overall:
• Bold flavors and a lot of different elements to pick out with this beer.  Quite sweet and pretty boozy.  I like the strong hop presence of this beer and the bitterness - the balance is somewhat to sweetness but the hops provide enough of a counter to make this a beer you feel like drinking rather than sipping.