Barleywine

What is it? Wine? Beer? Is Barleywine Style Ale diffrent? I don't get it...

Since a lot of these show up as winter seasonals it's time to address the questions about it.

First off, it is most definatly a beer. We have England's many wars with France to thank for the name and the style. When it became a patriotic no-no for upper class Englishman to drink wine brewers responded by creating a high alcohol beer (10-12%) that aged well. I believe the first brewery to mass produce this style was Bass.

Beers that are made in the U.S. are labeled "Barleywine Style" 'cause in the U.S. things labeled "wine" have to be made from fruit or honey. They are, in fact, the same as Barleywines.

Second, do we, in fact, want to drink it?

OK, I get that this tends to be a scary style for most new beer folk. It tends to run a little higher in price than other beers, is high alcohol content and generally has BIG flavors. Worse yet, there is no real set flavor profile for this style beyond strong. These can be super fruity or super bitter so it's always a risk trying a new one.

The tips? Worth trying, these are bold brews with a lot of complexity. Try to find tastings or brewfests that offer them if you can. If not, as a very very general guideline the European brewers are more likely to turn out a sweeter product than their American counterparts. And remember brewers that like to use a lot of hops in their other styles will almost certainly go crazy with them here. For example, Rogue's Old Crustation clocks in at a whopping 110 IBUs.

(Quick note, IBUs or International Bitterness Units are used to measure hop resins in beer. High numbers mean bitter beers.)

Meet the Brewer

This is a relatively new event started at a relatively new Portland brewpub. The place in the Green Dragon . They aren't brewing their own beer yet, and the menu hasn't quite gelled, although the Belgian style fries are quite good.

And just because he's not brewing himself yet doesn't mean there is any shortage of craft beer. They are running about 14 taps, all of them micros, and constantly changing.

As to the event itself, they've set up a seperate mini-bar area where they are inviting other local brewers to come in every Tuesday night, bring a few kegs of their own stuff and chat it up with the customers. It's a nice laid back event where the serious and not so serious beer hound can pick up a lot of information on what is going on in the local scene.

This last Tuesday the brewer guest was the owner/operator of my favorite Vancouver, Wa Brewpub, Salmon Creek. Their website is currently under construction, but keep an eye on it. This man creates solid European style beers and his wife is an excellent cook. One of the reasons I love this place is it really gives one the feeling of having been invited into someone's home for the evening. I am reliably informed that they have ordered women's shirts so look for them on the shopping page as soon as they have the website finished.

Trendwatch '08 or Microdistilleries

Alright, Microdistilleries aren't that new. A few have been around for quite a while.

What we have been seeing over the last 10 years though is a tendency for well established microbreweries to ADD distilleries to their line ups.

Anchor Brewing of California was one of the early birds in this field, but they have since been followed by McMenamins, Dogfish and Rogue. The chick is aware of some smaller Oregon breweries that have been toying with the idea as well.

For the Trendwatch part, definately worth watching. I think probably this is going to be the next big alcohol revolution, particulary on the West Coast. Bigger micros with good brand recognition are well set up to take advantage of a local spirits craze, and odds are most of them will realize this.