A Barley Wine
A colloboration between Wicked Wine and Stefan Gustavsson. Brewed at Sigtuna Brygghus. 10.5% ABV - Systembolaget Article Number TBC. 36.40 SEK (330ml bottle)
Reassuring burst of CO2 upon opening. Cloudy cognac colour under a roasted corn-coloured head that quickly evaporates. There's an intriguing deep amber/red tinge to it. It looks old - like the cover of an antique leather-bound book.
Straight away the English heritage of this beer shines through. The candy-spicy-floral notes from the Goldings hops are layered over a rich, bread-dipped-in rum body. It's completely lacking any US grapefruit and pine vibes - Hallelujah! There's wood in there too. It smells like an old staircase that someone's painted with treacle. Biggest negative is that there's a hint of solvent from all the booze. It's muscling its way through the malt, saying "look at me, look at me!!!" This beer needs some time.
Before I start describing the tastes I've got to mention the mouth feel. There is hardly any carbonation here at all. The beer is incredibly smooth, with just a tickle of gentle effervescence in the finish. Treacle, treacle, treacle, melted brown sugar, nutty, toffee pecan ice-cream (without the ice-cream), molases, some dry leafy tea notes. Taste starts off as sweet then transmogrifies into a balancing dry, nutty middle and finishes with a warming boozy glow. There's reputedly 100 IBUs in here but it is perfectly checked by the treacle sweetness.
Barley wine is one of, if not the, greatest cheese beer there is and often knocks wine flat on its back. US BWs (which tend to be more hoppy and tropically sweet than English BWs) are fab with Blue/Gorgonzola, while the drier, nuttier, more raisin-like English BWs go hand and glove with mature cheddars and a stinky chunk of English Stilton.
Nerd note
Mohawk Barley Wine joins a very exclusive club of Swedish craft beers that have strayed over 10% ABV. What makes this beer particularly interesting is that it is brewed using only Goldings hops from Kent in the UK (and is dry hopped with them too for extra intensity) and this classic hop's signature candy-spice-floral notes are clearly evident in the nose and taste. Personally I think it's running a bit hot right now and would benefit from a few years of ageing in order for the residual sugars to calm down and the booze to soften out. I'm scoring it as it tastes today, but can imagine it might easily increase a half point in years to come.
Rating
3.5 of 5
Very nice review there Darren, I thought it would get a 4 or above but it’s nevertheless a promising beer.
But is Barleywine something that will be some sort of a new trend or have I just not noticed it before?
I think it has the potential to be a 4+ beer Thomas but it needs some time in the bottle. Barley wine isn’t exactly new and I think at strengths approaching table wine it will only ever appeal to a small minority of people. It is however an exceptional style for ageing and for combining with cheese.
Thank’s Darren for the cheese-tip. Which cheese would you prefer? I have a bottle of Nils Oscar BW standing.
BTW, Thomas is my brother, and we sat down this Monday at his place and drank two bottles of Sierra Nevada Bigfoot, which is an ale of Barley Wine character. Damn nice beer! A tough bastard, I might say
Peter – For Nils Oscar BW I’d go for something like this:
http://www.arla.se/Default____17809.aspx?SelectedMenuItem=31739
or this:
http://www.arla.se/Default____17804.aspx?SelectedMenuItem=22856
There are better cheeses out there but these two are fairly widely available.
As I just said, I love your pairing tips. I think I’d fancy trying barley wine and cheese. They have Bigfoot Ale at ”my” store right now so I think I might go with that. Any particular cheese you could recommend to go with it?
I might add that back when I lived in Iceland I very often just got some English bitter and some English cheddar. The cheddar selection was even lamer than the beer selection but it was usually a very satisfying combination.
I just tried this fantastic beer for the first time, actually my glass i still half empty (or full if you prefer, but rest assured it won’t stay that way for long). I have to say that I agree with you around 95% of the time when it comes to scores but this time I can’t agree with you, this beer deserves a 4+ rating, it’s just something else. Rarely have i tasted such a strong beer with a delicate balance of this level in it’s complex taste. This is simply fantastic and I am definitely going to store a few bottles for christmas and the christmas after that in my quite empty temperate cellar