Top Shelf Thursday, February 2014: Poor Man's Heaven

This winter has sucked.  Record low temps for days at a time, persistent snow, black ice, depression, gah.  Fear not – barleywine to the rescue!  Nothing can help stave off the oppressive winter onslaught like a good, boozy barleywine, warming your insides & putting some color in your cheeks.  Seemed the perfect theme for this month’s Top Shelf Thursday!

While drawing inspiration from a particularly rough season (anti-inspiration?), we fashioned this month’s tasting as something of an homage to Hell with the Lid Off, the annual barleywine festival held by Kelly’s Lounge in East Liberty (one of my favorite non-House places to eat & imbibe).  Now in its tenth year, Hell with the Lid Off has been an institution among Pittsburgh’s beer scene, offering a dizzying selection from the barleywine family over four-hour sessions.  Along with the malty ecstasy comes a sizable entry fee &, often, a doozy of a hangover.  In modifying a barleywine tasting to fit Top Shelf Thursday, we wanted to offer an alternative with a low pricetag & a selection showing variety while still allowing for a porcelain-free Friday.  We dubbed this tasting “Poor Man’s Heaven”.

We started off with a baseline, in the form of two English-style barleywines from American brewers.  Yards Brewing’s Olde Bartholomew hit hot notes of fusel alcohol & came across a little solvent-like.  Only recently released, it may have suffered from its relative youth – barleywines are one of the few styles of beer that can not only stand up to, but actually improve from, aging, & this one may have lost its “green-ness” with a little more time in storage.  Vermilion Winter Ale, from St. Louis’ Perennial Artisanal Ales, had been hanging around our shelves & stock room a little longer, to its benefit – it bore strong brown sugar & caramel notes, rich & well-rounded.  Schlafly’s Oak Aged Barleywine hit a nice blend of woody character, with coconut & a little tannin, that complemented the sweet, strong profile of the base beer.

We switched the flight up to welcome barleywine’s half-sister, wheatwine, essentially a barleywine brewed with a portion of wheat malt, giving it a honey-like sweetness & buoyant mouthfeel.  DuClaw Brewing’s Misery was our introduction to the style for the evening.  While some were turned off by it, others found its lighter sweetness & texture (which some described as “lager-ish”), combined with a bitter & dry twist at the end, unexpected & intriguing.  Manzanita Brewing, a small, obscure outfit out of California, gave us their 3^rd Anniversary Ale, a wheatwine aged on oak.  The oak may have been too much for the more delicate strong ale, & came through overwhelmingly dry & resembling acetone.  The third in the “wheatwine” stretch – DuClaw’s Divine Retribution No. 3 – was a bit of a curveball: a 40/60 blend of their Retribution imperial stout & Misery wheatwine, aged in bourbon barrels.  Many found themselves seduced by the roasty, rich imperial stout & bourbon character, as the subtler wheatwine seemed to play a supporting role here.

ABV climbed to 11.6% by this next course: Stone Brewing’s Old Guardian.  An archetypal west coast American barleywine, Old Guardian distinguished itself in this line-up with a prominent hop character, amplified by its freshness – it had been bottled less than a month before the tasting!  For the hop heads among us, this was an enjoyable detour: hop-forward but very smooth & without the abrasive bitterness expected from Stone. 

The final three really took us home, & hit sweet spots for those who knew what they wanted from a barleywine tasting.  Bethlehem, PA’s Fegley Brew Works brewed Arctic Alchemy was based on a recipe over a century old, used to provide warming rations to sailors trekking through the far northern seas.  12% ABV, smooth, with a complex malt character that rolled out deep caramel flavors, this really hit the nail on the head.  Dogfish Head’s Olde School, brewed with figs & dates, packed a strong alcohol flavor at 15.04%, a precarious balancing act that was evened out by the sugary fruit notes.  And if Arctic Alchemy hit the nail on the head, the final course of the flight knocked it out of the park: North Coast Brewing’s Old Stock 2011 Cellar Reserve, their old ale aged in brandy barrels.  At 15.2%, this was deep, rich, going through waves of caramel, molasses, & maple syrup with enough booze warmth to prop it all up.  The aftertaste lingers on & on with waves of more & more rich flavor – a truly decadent, full-bodied, full-flavored strong ale.

While it was surely a pleasure savoring all these big sipping beers over an evening, it was just as enjoyable seeing everyone pacing themselves, drinking plenty of water, & not overdoing it on some high-alcohol brews.  As always, thanks to those who spent the evening at The House.  As much as the cold, dark months of winter can be a challenge, I’m glad they exist; they give us an excuse to rail against the frigid darkness by banding together in warm, well-lit places & down some boozy brews with good company & conversation.  Sounds like a little slice of heaven to me.