Here’s an exclusive first look at the latest in one of Sweden’s most successful ever beer franchises – Mohawk Barley Wine!
I’ve been lucky enough to get my hands on a couple of bottles of this eagerly anticipated 10.5% ABV barley wine that boasts a tongue-curling 100 IBUs and is modelled on a recipe for an imperial ale made in Scotland back in 1835.
Now stop, read the previous paragraph one more time and then tell me beer isn’t the most interesting, innovative and just drop-dead-gorgeous drink out there right now – I dare you!
Gypsy brewer Stefan Gustavsson has kept good to every single word he told followers of BeerSweden’s Facebook page back in April by producing two new additions to the Mohawk family – the barley wine you see above and Mohawk Stitch (a brown porter) which both go on sale at the Systembolaget on September 1st.
I’ll be hunting down a bottle of Stitch over the next few days (so stayed tuned) but what do we already know about this big-arse barley wine?
Well once again it is a beer borne out of the collaboration between Stefan and Swedish drinks importer Wicked Wine and once again it has been brewed by the creative team over at Sigtuna Brygghus.
In a departure from all the US-dominated beers released of late MBW is brewed using ONLY East Kent Goldings hops from Kent for both aroma and bitterness. It’s even been dry-hopped with them too for good measure to ramp it up to the levels of a modern day double IPA.
Now I was born and raised in East Kent, so I’m extra excited about trying this beer!
It is built on a foundation of pale ale and pilsner malts with a sprinkling of Munich and Crystal malt to add more depth of flavour.
Barley wine is a malt-accented beer that benefits hugely from being stored for several years in order to fully develop and express all its complex wine-like layers of flavours. I however can’t wait that long, so expect the first ever blog review of Mohawk Barley Wine in the next 24 hours!
