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Barley Wine
by David Allaben, 1999
Barley wine, a term developed to describe one's strongest ale, was first used in England. According to Michael Jackson, the term may have been coined by rural homebrewers to describe a high gravity bitter. It is traditionally a British-style strong ale with significant body, malt flavor and aroma.
Many American brewers have developed their own versions of the style. Historically, barley wines were prepared from worts of 17 to 30 degrees Plato (1.065 to 1.120 original gravities).
The first barley wine may have been Bass’s No. 1 Ale, but no one really knows if this is true. Today barley wine describes an ale that is high in alcohol, approaching content by volume in the range of 6 to 12 percent. Typically barley wines are bottled and aged.
In the past, barley wines would mature in a cask. From time to time the cask was rolled around the brewery courtyard to rouse the yeast. This practice helped to ensure proper attenuation.
Flavors can vary widely. For instance, some can assimilate red wine or fortified wine characteristics. On the other hand, others may be more brandy-like. Still, others can emulate sherry or whiskey flavors. Whether it is categorized as an American-style or British-style barley wine, these beers are always rich and malty with significant fruity flavors. Color varies from bronze to deep mahogany. Traditionally barley wines are considered nightcaps or winter warmers, but they may also be served as a dessert ale.
American-style barley wines tend to differ from their British counterparts, mostly in hop character, but often in strength as well. Typically, there is balance between hop bitterness and maltiness, but many American-style barley wines have considerable hop bitterness, aroma and flavor too. The body is medium to heavy. The British-style barley wine tends to be maltier and often displays a bigger caramel flavor.
Some popular American-style barely wines are Sierra Nevada’s Bigfoot and Anchor’s Old Foghorn. Common British barley wines are Thomas Hardy’s Ale, Young’s Old Nick, and Fuller’s Golden Pride.
The parameters set forth by the American Homebrewers Association for barley wine are as follows:
English-Style Barley Wine
English-style barely wines are tawny copper to dark brown in color. They possess full body and high residual malty sweetness. The complexity of alcohols and fruity-ester characters are often high and counterbalanced by the perception of low to medium bitterness and extraordinary alcohol content. Hop aroma and flavor may be minimal to medium, and use of English hop varieties is typical. Low levels of diacetyl may be acceptable. A caramel and vinous aroma and flavor is part of the character. Chill haze is allowed at cold temperatures.
OG: 1.085-120 (21.0-30.0°P)
FG: 1.024-32 (6.0-8.0°P)
% Alcohol by weight = 6.7-9.6
% Alcohol by volume = 8.5-12.2
IBUs = 50-100
Color (SRM/Lovibond) = 14-22
Color (EBC) = 28-43American-Style Barley Wine
American-style barley wines are tawny copper to dark brown in color. They have full body and high residual malty sweetness. The complexity of alcohols and fruity-ester characters are often high and counterbalanced by the perception of medium to assertive bitterness and extraordinary alcohol content. Hop aroma and flavor may be medium to very high, and use of American hop varieties is typical. Low levels of diacetyl may be acceptable. A caramel and vinous aroma and flavor is part of the character. Chill haze is allowed at cold temperatures.
OG: 1.085-120 (21.0-30.0°P)
FG: 1.024-32 (6.0-8.0°P)
% Alcohol by weight = 6.7-9.6
% Alcohol by volume = 8.5-12.2
IBUs = 50-100
Color (SRM/Lovibond) = 14-22
Color (EBC) = 28-43
This beer style requires a lot of malt. Pale malt is the base malt. Specialty malts generally account for 10 to 15 percent of the grain bill. Commercial brewers primarily use British two-row pale and crystal malt. Some commercial brewers may use a small amount of dextrin malt too. According to Ray Daniel’s, Designing Great Beers, homebrewers use a wider variety of specialty malts compared to commercial brewers. Also, many homebrewers that went on to the second-round National Homebrew Competition (NHC) used malt extract in their recipes. Since there is limited space in the mash tun, using extract is an excellent way to achieve the proper gravity required of the barley wine style.
In order to ensure maximum attenuation by the yeast during fermentation, mash the grains between 149 to 151 degrees Fahrenheit. A low temperature mash will avoid the creation of an overly dextrinous wort. Boil lengths vary depending upon the amount by which the wort needs concentrated.
Hops should be added generously. Since the original gravity of barley wine is quite high, higher hopping rates are used to achieve proper balance and bitterness. For bittering, high alpha varieties are more economical and take up less volume in the kettle. Low alpha acid varieties are excellent for their aroma characteristics and can be used in the kettle and for dry-hopping. Depending on the style, American or British, a wide variety of hops can be used. Dry hopping is common for this particular style of ale. In the National Homebrew Competition (NHC) second-round entries, Chinook was the most common bittering hop and Cascade was the most common aroma hop. Commercial barley wines tend to be less bitter than those developed by homebrewers in the NHC, which were in the range of 70 to 110 international bittering units (IBUs).
Many homebrewers in the NHC did not treat their brewing water. On the other hand, a few added various salts to their brewing water in order to emulate Burton water.
Yeast should be highly alcohol-tolerant, but not extremely attentuative. The idea is to achieve 70 to 75 percent attenuation. Champagne yeast tends to be too attentuative and may not produce the intended flavor desired. In the NHC competition, there was a variety of yeast used and few used champagne yeast to achieve a higher degree of attenuation. Since pale ales and bitters are generally well attenuated, special attention must be given to the fermentation of barley wines. To achieve the same percentage of attenuation, yeast may need to be aroused or the brewer may pitch multiple strains that tolerate different fermentation conditions such as high alcohol. Barley wines are best aged for at least six months. Many barley wine connoisseurs prefer to let the ale mature over several years.
Locally, Rock Bottom Brewing Company and Lafayette Brewing Company produce a barley wine. Last year, Lafayette Brewing Company’s Big Boris Barley Wine was awarded a silver medal in the World Beer Championships. Regionally, Bluegrass Brewing Company (Louisville, Kentucky) produces an excellent barley wine called Bearded Pat’s Barley Wine. It has won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival two years in a row. Since Rock Bottom’s Old Curmudgeon and Lafayette Brewing Company’s Big Boris barley wines move quickly, every effort should be made to try these excellent barley wines soon.
Greg Emig, owner and brewer for the Lafayette Brewing Company, describes his unfiltered, golden-amber colored barely wine as very fruity with a slight vinous character. Brewed in July, Big Boris’s original gravity is 1.093 (24°P). The final gravity is 1.017 (4.75°P). Since Big Boris is well attenuated, it finishes dry, yet maintains a complex residual malty sweetness balanced by its hop character. This splendid barley wine is produced exclusively with English two-row pale malt. Big Boris is hopped using Challenger in the range of 80 to 100 IBUs. Greg always places some of his barley wine in a toasted oak cask obtained from the Oliver Winery in Bloomington. As expected, this adds significant complexity to Big Boris. Although already consumed, this year Greg stated that Big Boris picked up some additional winy characters from the cask along with a mellow “oakiness.” In a conversation with FBI member Bill Friday, he stated Big Boris Barley Wine has great complexity and is an exciting beer. He further commented that Big Boris has a wonderful malt and hop balance with the expected alcohol warmth.
Will Gaffney, brewer for Rock Bottom, recently placed Old Curmudgeon Barely Wine on tap. His deep mahogany-colored, unfiltered barley wine is rich and complex as well. It has plenty of fruity-ester character with maple overtones. In addition, there is a slight toffee character found in Old Curmudgeon. The original gravity of Old Curmudgeon is about 1.093 (24°P). The final gravity is 1.023 (6°P). The grist for producing this rich ale was 88% British two-row pale malt, 6% medium crystal, 4% light Munich, 1.5% dark crystal, and 0.5% black malt. Since Will had extra room in the mash tun, he added another bag of pale malt to “tweak” the gravity. Old Curmudgeon is hopped using almost equal amounts of Nugget and East Kent Goldings to achieve 70 IBUs. It is fermented at 72°F using American II ale yeast. Will stated he made only 8 barrels compared to the typical 12 barrels usually brewed. Therefore, he does not expect it to last long. It has been maturing since early August and keeps improving as the weeks go by.
Bibliography
- American Homebrewers Association staff, “1998 National Homebrew Competition Rules and Regulations,” Zymurgy, Vol. 21, No. 1, Spring 1998.
- Allen, Fal and Cantwell, Dick, “Barleywine- The Revival of the Tradition of Big Beers,” Brewing Techniques, Vol. 6, No. 5, September/October 1998.
- Bachman, Tom, “Barley Wine- The King Kong of Beers,” Zymurgy, Vol. 16, No. 3, Fall 1993.
- Daniels, Ray (1996). Desgining Great Beers. Brewers Publications. Boulder.
- Dorsch, Jim, “Barley Wine: Feast or Famine,” The New Brewer, Vol. 13, No. 6, November/December 1996.
- Jackson, Michael (1993). Beer Companion. Running Press Book Publishers. Philadelphia.
- Jackson, Michael (1991). The New World Guide to Beer. Running Press Book Publishers. Philadelphia.
- Korzonas, Al (1997). Homebrewing, Volume 1. Sheaf & Vine. Palos Hills.
- Maier, John, “Beer Style Workshop: Barley Wine,” The New Brewer, Vol. 10, No. 5, September/October 1993.
- Snyder, Stephen, “Make Mine Barley Wine,” Zymurgy, Vol. 20, No. 5, Winter 1997.