Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Barleywine Release on Wednesday 28th

Yaks are hairy.  Bigfoot is hairy.   Introducing the newest release in the Haunted Beer Series: Big Hairy Barleywine. 

This beer is about 8.8% alcohol and is big on the malty, caramel, and roast flavors.  Big Hairy is being released at the same time as our Red Hots Cinnamon Wheat at 4PM this Wednesday.  Served responsibly in 1/2 pint snifters.  If you want to know more about the barleywine style, read on:

The BJCP (beer judge certification program) has a nice description here.  Why call a beer a wine?  The name comes from England when brewers brewed a stronger beer to compete with the higher-proof wines.  Beer and wine has had a long rivalry, so using the name to sell the beer was probably just creative marketing at the time.  Much like a wine that can be aged, most (but not all) barleywines can also improve with age.  Sierra Nevada has a beer called Bigfoot Barleywine that is famous for being used with “vertical tastings” (tasting several of the same beer from different years, err vintages).  

My first barleywine as a homebrewer lasted for about 5 years and was sampled every few months.  The beer peaked in greatness at about 3.5 years old.  Big Hairy Barleywine will not last that long, so stop down for a sample or 1/2 pint and try it for yourselves before it vanishes like the elusive Yeti.

Prost!

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