No, this is not a blog about wine..
Barley Wine, like the Quadrupel or Imperial stout, often represents pinnacle of a breweries arsenal.
But where does this fancy sounding beer style come from?
The earliest known origins of the style come from ancient Greece, where a barley wine beverage (also referred to as barley wine) was apparently quite popular. As hops weren't yet being used to brew beer, these early barley wines were based on fermented grain.
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| Early Barley Wine Advertisement |
The modern variant of Barley wine, which we know and love today, has its origins in 19th century Britain. The first usage of the name "barley wine" was by Bass & Co, at the end of the century. Marketed as a "royal" tonic or beverage, the style often represented the more expensive and high class beer style.
The reasons for this were twofold: Firstly, the original process for creating barley wine was the traditional method of using single mash or wort for all the beers. This meant that the first beers brewed were the strongest, darkest, and with the most flavour. As the mash was used again and again, consequent brews became lighter both in colour and alcohol percentage. Barleywine was exclusively made from the very first mash running by Bass & Co.
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| Some more early advertisement |
Secondly, due to its high alcohol percentage (traditionally around 11%) the style often suffered from alcohol based taxation, meaning: more alcohol = more tax. This resulted in the cases where such taxation was present, that the beer was significantly more expensive than other brews (something which is often still the case today).
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| Enjoying an English style Barley Wine |
The American style contains significantly more hop, resulting in more bitterness and pronounced flavours. This variant is often also more lightly coloured. Anchor Brewing Company was the first US brewer to brew the style, which resulted in 'Old Foghorn Barleywine Style Ale'
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| Enjoying the original US Barleywine: Old Foghorn |
You might have noticed that the Anchor Brewing Company also changed the style name somewhat, from Barley Wine to Barleywine Style Ale. At the time, the brewers were afraid that if they used the original style name 'barley wine', that the word wine would displease and scare away potential customers.
So there you have it, the origins of the brew sometimes referred to as the 'wine of beers'. If you havent already, give this great (and dangerously strong) beer style a try!
Cheers!
