Hello readers! We hope you had a great long weekend with some quality patio/deck drinking. We have some awesome news for you all – Eric got a job in Burnaby, BC and we will be driving there at the end of August and then back to Waterloo in December. What does this mean for you? Well, it means that, for the first time ever, the beer columnists will be doing a beer tour across Canada – and writing about it in the fall and winter. Our first beer tour will be about summer beers, and our second beer tour will be about winter brews. No need to fear though, Rebecca will still be in Waterloo during the term so you can ask her any questions you have about beer (or you can email Eric)! Also, during Eric’s absence, our column will still be going strong – we will use Skype to ensure our beer tastings go the same as they do now! Anyways, on to the beer! Today’s article is going to be about beer styles and we are going to review Mill Street’s Barley Wine.
Beers fall into two very broad categories (most of the time): beers that are produced by top-fermenting yeasts (called ales) and those that are made with bottom-fermenting yeasts (called lagers). Ales were the first beer style because brewers did not understand how yeast worked in beer at the time. Ales were unstable; therefore, beer could not be brewed in warm weather and brewers would store their beer reserves in the coldest places they could find. Brewers found that their beer was more stable because the yeast had sunk to the bottom when using cold caves for beer storage. The reason behind this was that the yeasts worked slower in cold temperatures thereby producing a beer that was cleaner, rounder and less fruity than ales; the brewers soon called this type of beer a lager. Fermentation for a lager took one to three months (which is much longer than ales).
Ales include everything with ale in the name (pale ale, amber ale, etc.), porters, stouts, Belgian specialty beers, barley wines, wheat beers and many German specialty beers. They generally have a more robust taste, are more complex and are best consumed cool (10° C or a bit warmer) rather than cold.
Lagers include pilsners, bocks and dopplebocks, Maerzens/Oktoberfests, Dortmunders and a few other styles found mostly in Germany. They are best consumed at a cooler temperature than ales, although anything served at less than 3.5° C will cause the beer to lose most of its flavour. Lagers tend to taste smooth, clean and malty.
Hybrid beers are those that don’t fit perfectly into the ale or lager category. There are relatively few examples of them. The difference is in the unique technique used to brew them (for example, higher temperatures than normal). Hybrids are typically dry like lagers but retain malty flavours. Two common examples of hybrid beers are California Common (also called steam beer) and Kolsch.
Now let’s explore one very specific type of beer – barley wine! Barley wine is a strong ale which originated in England. A barley wine usually has an alcohol strength of 8 to 12% by volume and is called a barley wine because it can be as strong as wine; but since it is made from grain rather than fruit, it is a beer. Barley wines range in colour from amber to deep reddish-browns where all are rich and full-flavoured in taste. Barley wines can be aged to increase their smoothness – they contain lots of alcohol, malt flavour, hops aroma and bitterness for which time is needed for these elements to blend into the full, mellow, complex drink that this style is made to be.
We are going to review Mill Street’s 2009 Barley Wine today. It comes in a 500-millilitre ceramic bottle (see photo), and has an alcohol strength of 11% by volume. It is best served in a trappist glass at room temperature (since serving it at this temperature will open up the complex taste of the barley wine). For our review, we drank two of these – one we aged for over a year, and the other we did not age at all. Currently, we are also aging a bottle of Mill Street’s 2010 Barley Wine for a six month period. We found that the Mill Street Barley Wines generally taste somewhat similar from year to year so that you will be in for a treat not matter what year you pick!
Mill Street’s 2009 Barley Wine is a cloudy, orange-coloured ale with a creamy head. Its main aroma is very alcoholic and smells of malty caramel, oranges, and hops. The initial sip is much like the aroma. Floral hops and caramel mix well, but also with a distinct fruity taste. Finally there’s a nice dry finish with a bit of an alcoholic burn at the very end. Its taste and smell are very complex and unique – Eric and I both preferred the one which had not been aged. We found out, after we had drunk both bottles, that the beer is already aged for many months before it goes on sale; perhaps our bottle was aged for too long a time period or at the wrong temperature. Regardless, both bottles we had were excellent and we can’t wait to open our 2010 Mill Street Barley Wine. We strongly recommend that you give Mill Street’s Barley Wine a try; although it is fairly expensive, it is well worth it for those who crave something different!
Thanks for reading, and remember: FEAR NO BEER!