Beer Me Friday

Welcome to part two of Beers I’ve Never Had, a continuation from Hell Hath No Fury Friday.

Moving in no particular order, this week I tackled (with the help of a friend) Mendocino’s Imperial Barley Wine.

Part of their Imperial Series (which immediately piques my interest as it normally indicates a high gravity brew) this brew holds true to an Olde Style Barley Wine and clocks in at a knockout 11% ABV. Luckily I had a friend in town, and we split this sucker up in tasting glasses (gotta love beerfest schwag).

When gently pouring into a 6 oz or smaller glass I never expect a lot of head except for wildly over carbonated beers, but this faded so fast I never even got a picture of it.

Barley Wines and Imperial IPAs (the latter of which I will be trying from Mendocino at a later date) are both strong beers with loads of malt and hops competing for balance. As a general rule I always consider Barley Wines to be tipped towards a maltier profile, and this was no exception. So much so in fact, that as one person on the Beer Advocate page noted it had “hints of tawny port”, and as I will now note, hints of alcohol (what can I say, it’s a strong beer). The hops kicked in towards the end leaving you with a nice bite at the finish.

Much like the Hell Hath No Fury, I don’t need more than one of these in a sitting, and splitting one with a friend before we moved on to more reasonable brews was the right decision for the night. Even half of this brew contains the intoxicating capacity of most standard IPAs. Hell you’re probably over the legal limit to drive the moment you start catching the aroma wafting out of the glass.

Many Barley Wines (and other high gravity brews) age well over time, and I’m tempted to go buy another single and keep it around for a year or two to see what happens. In all honesty though I’ve found that hop notes fade and more maltiness comes through with aging, which I’m not sure I would be that excited about with this particular beer.

Overall a pretty decent brew, but I doubt I’ll spring for the four packs ($9.75) or even any more singles ($2.75) as it’s just a bit too malty for my humulus loving taste buds. Once again though, cheers to trying something new, and you should do the same this fine Friday!