Best Barley Wines in America
Rogue, Anderson Valley, Stone, Stone Brewing, Sweetwater, Sierra Nevada,
August Schell, Boston Beer, Great Divide, Bar Harbor, New Glarus

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Top Ten Barley Wines

Old Ruffian Barley Wine - Great Divide Brewing Company
Old Ruffian is a hefty, hop-forward Barley Wine. Seemingly mellow at first sniff, with its subtle fruit aromas and complex caramel sweetness, this deep mahogany-hued ale quickly shows its true character marked by bold hop flavors and massive hop bitterness. Old Ruffian’s rich, slightly creamy, caramel malt mouthfeel balances its grapefruit, pine, and floral hop flavors, working wonders on your palate. A mind-numbing 90 International Bittering Units (IBUs).

Bigfoot Barley Wine - Sierra Nevada, Chico, CA
Bigfoot Ale is an award-winning example of the traditional barleywine ale style. It boasts a dense, fruity bouquet; an extremely rich, intense palate; and a deep, reddish-brown color. This ale is superbly balanced between an almost overpowering maltiness and a wonderfully bittersweet hoppiness.

Old Crustacean, Rogue Ales, Newport, OR
Old Crustacean is brewed with eight ingredients, Great Western Harrington, Klages, Hugh Baird Carastan and Munich Malts, Chinook and Centennial Hops, free-range coastal water and PacMan yeast. Old Crustacean is best when aged for one year. Old Crustacean is available in a new 750-ml ceramic swingtop bottle and on draft. Measurements: 25 degrees Plato, IBU 110, Apparent Attenuation 83, Lovibond 57, ABV 11.5%.

Stone Old Guardian, Stone Brewing Co.
Stone Brewing is known for a big attitude and even bigger beers. As a result, it is no small news that one of their biggest, Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine, is being released. A perfect example of all that is big and bold in beer, Old Guardian's malt character weighs in with a huge 11.26% alc.vol. and is accented by a near-critical level of hops.

Old Foghorn, Anchor Brewing
Old Foghorn is highly hopped, using only Cascade hops. It is fermented with a true top-fermenting ale yeast. Carbonation is produced by an entirely natural process called "bunging," which produces champagne-like bubbles. Our "barleywine ale" is dry-hopped with additional Cascade hops while it ages in our cellars.

Olde School Barleywine, Dogfish Head Brewery
This ale starts out with a warm light fruit flavor, e.g. apricots, pears, red apples. Then the 15.04% abv slowly creeps in. The alcohol slowly warms your taste buds more and as the beer warms. No hops can be detected in this brew. The finish was a nice balance of warmth and summery fruit.

Full Sail Boardhead Barleywine Ale, Full Sail  - Portland, OR
This smooth and fruity barleywine ale is a delicious brew to sip in chilly  weather. Deep and robust, it is brewed using two-row Pale, Dextrin and Crystal malts, combined with flaked barley, to give it a strong malty body. Hopped with Willamette, Styrian, Goldings and Centennial hops, Old Boardhead Barleywine finishes with a pleasant hoppiness.

Avery Hog Heaven Barley wine
This dangerously drinkable garnet beauty is a hop lover's delight. The intense dry-hop nose and the alcohol content are perfectly balanced for a caramel candy-like malt finish. This is a serious beer for serious beer afficianados and it only gets better with age. Cellarable for 3 years.Hop Variety: Columbus. Malt Variety: Two-row barley, caramel 75L. OG: 1.085   Alcohol By Volume: 9.2%   IBU's: 104. Color: Deep Garnet

Alaskan Big Nugget Barley Wine , Alaskan Brewing Co.,
This was a brew done for the GABF '04 competition. They had it on tap at the brewery around and during the fest. Poured, the short dark almond head settles quickly, letting the rich opaque hazelnut color show almost immediately. The nose is powered mainly by the kick-you-in-the-butt 10.4% AC, but with a strong undercurrent of malted barley and a faint roasty waft. On first taste, the alcohol is again overpowering, but the barley makes its way through much more readlily. As it warms, the barley malt takes controll of the palate and steers you to some of the subtle bready and roasted malt, backed up by a slightly bitter hop flavor.

Old Backus Barleywine, Free State Brewing Co., Lawrence, KS
The huge amounts of both hops and malt that go into this beer necessitate a long conditioning period to mellow its intense flavors. The Old Backus contains just over 2,000 lbs of malt and 55 lbs of hops. the Original gravity is 25.6 °P/1092 which contributes to an alcohol content of 8.4% by wt. and 10.5% by vol. The bitterness level is 150 ibu. This is a tremendously complex beer that should be savoured slowly and in moderation. It will continue to change with age as it is served unfiltered and is continuing to mature.


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