What Is a Barleywine?

In some ways, the name 'Barleywine' conveys everything you need to know about the style; in other ways, the name couldn't be more misleading. To start, Barleywines are not technically wines. Wine is fermented fruit juice — typically from grapes — while Barleywine is a strong ale made from fermenting the sugars extracted from grains.

So why call them "wines"? The style earned its name based on these beers' strength and complexity – two definite similarities to wine.

Though there are now a lot of high-alcohol beers, traditionally, Barleywines have been some of the strongest beers on the market, with ABVs ranging from as low as about 8% and going up to 12% or more. Keep in mind that before IPAs and Imperial Stouts took over the American craft beer scene, the vast majority of brews fell somewhere in the 4-5% ABV range, making the alcohol level on Barleywines much closer to what the average consumer would find in a wine instead of a beer. Those high alcohol levels also mean that Barleywines are one of the few beers that handle aging extremely well – again, like a fine wine.

To get to such a high ABV, brewers have to pack more malt, typically barley, into the beer to ratchet up the amount of sugars available to be fermented. All that malt increases sweetness, meaning Barleywines also need an extra helping of hops to keep them balanced. That massive combination of malt, hops, and alcohol turns Barleywines into extremely complex beers.

Barleywine is typically one of two styles: hoppier American and mellower and more balanced English styles. The Brewer's Association describes both versions as featuring "flavors of bread, caramel, honey, molasses, and toffee." As the name Barleywine suggests, these are dark, malty beers elevated by additional alcohol complexity.

Those looking for an introduction to American-style Barleywines can start with one of the founders of America's craft beer movement — Sierra Nevada. Since 1983 the classic California brewery's Bigfoot Barleywine has encapsulated a hopped-up take on the style. Meanwhile, if you want a traditional English-style barleywine, try the Blithering Idiot from Pennsylvania's Weyerbacher Brewing Co.