Barley Wine

What is barley wine?

The terms Barley Wine, Gerstewijn and Quadrupel are used interchangeably with some regularity. This is completely understandable, as Gerstewijn is the Dutch translation of Barley Wine and the quadrupel apparently has the same brewing process and ingredients as the Barley Wine. However, there are differences, which perhaps only a true gourmet would notice! The first difference is that the Quadrupel uses Belgian yeast, while the Barley Wine uses English or American yeast. The second difference is that with the Quadrupel, refermentation always takes place in the bottle, which in principle is not the case with the Barley Wine.

History of barley wine

The term 'Barley Wine' was already noted in historical documents in the 18th century. Brewers tried to convince real wine drinkers of the strength, nutrition and quality of their beer. By giving the beer a comparable alcohol percentage and linking it to the term 'Barley Wine', they hoped to persuade wine drinkers to start drinking beer. Whether this strategy worked out in this way is unknown. In 1903, the famous 'Burton brewer' Bass launched the first commercial beer with the name 'Barley Wine'. The beer named 'Bass No. 1 Barley Wine' became such a success that other, especially British brewers, took over this example and started brewing their own beer that was comparable to the then popular 'Bass No. 1 Barley Wine'.

brewing process

The formulation of the ingredients for a good 'Barley Wine' does not have to be complicated. In general, this type of beer is brewed with different types of malt, sugar, yeast, water and hops. The degree of difficulty in the brewing process is mainly in having a lot of patience and cooking the brew at the right temperature. The essential, but not completely predominant, caramel flavor is achieved through the prolonged cooking. Every brewery that produces a Barley Wine wants to give it its own identity. For that reason, some brewers even choose to add extra hops at various points during cooking. In this way, different flavors are created, so that a Barley Wine can immediately distinguish itself from other beers of this type of beer.

Types of barley wine

Despite the introduction above, the beer type Barley Wine has two major divisions, namely the American and the English Barley Wine. The major differences are caused by the choice of hops made by the brewer.

• American Style Barley Wine is very hoppy and often bitter in taste. The beer has a fruity taste with touches of caramel and toffee. The color palette varies from amber to light brown.
• English Style Barley Wine is less bitter than the American brother. This is mainly caused by a more subtle, less extreme addition of hops. The color palette of the English variant is slightly darker and varies from red gold to black.

Which foods go well with barley wine?

When determining food that fits the Barley Wine, it is important to choose food with a very strong taste. The Barley Wine also has a very strong taste, combined with a high alcohol percentage. When we combine a neutral food with a Barley Wine, the taste of this food will disappear completely, because the Barley Wine is too dominant. For this reason, we recommend the following foods:

• Dark chocolate: take a good bar of chocolate with a cocoa percentage of at least 75%. These chocolates contain the most flavor and, partly due to the lack of chemical additives, they combine excellently with the Barley Wine beer.
• Red crust cheese: The characteristic rind of these cheeses is frequently washed or brushed during the ripening process with slightly salted brine, wine, distillate or beer, to which the Corynebacterium or Brevibacterium linens have been added. This gives these cheeses their unique taste and aromatic character.