This was my Eleventh attempt at the English Barleywine style. I brewed this on Memorial Day in 2024, fermented for a month or so and then let it bulk age for what turned out to be close to 10 months. I would like to think that a high alcohol beer like this one can benefit quite a bit from that kind of mellowing time (but maybe I'm just justifying my own laziness)
I am going do drink half the batch this year and then will leave the remaining 24 bottles to be consumed once a year in a vertical tasting with my growing collection of Barleywine. This is a big, sweet beer (10% ABV and finished at 1.034) so I believe it will age very nicely (I'm lucky enough to have a cool and dark basement in which to store it). It already has a great complexity and I expect some age will add to that
Tasting Notes:
- Aroma:
- Fruity ester character (apple) along with caramel and toasted bread. I get an oak aroma along with a wine like character along with a mild alcohol aroma.
- Appearance:
- Light brown and quite cloudy. It pours with virtually no foam (just a flurry of bubbles which is soon gone.
- Flavor:
- Caramel and lightly toasted bread up front which then fades into some fruity character. It has a fairly strong oak flavor in the mix as well. The finish has a bit of bitterness and then is mostly rich and sweet malt flavor - I think I get something like chocolate in the finish as well. The alcohol is slightly present in the flavor but well in the background
- Mouthfeel:
- Full bodied and pretty sticky on the palate. It drinks with a slight bit of astringency with some alcohol warming character.
- Overall:
- This is a boldly flavored and very complex beer. It has very nice malt and yeast derived flavors. I oaked it generously and it contributes a nice element to the overall flavor - gives it an extra bit of richness which melds well with the other flavors
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