July 1998 Volume 21, Issue 7

Book Review
by Bryan Gros

Title: Barley Wine.

Author: By Fal Allen and Dick Cantwell

Published by Brewers Publications

Cost: $14.95 with the AHA.

The latest book in the Classic Beer Style Series is about the biggest of styles, barleywine. (Actually, the 12th book, Altbier, has been released). The authors are Fal Allen, head brewer at Pike Brewing Company, and Dick Cantwell, professional brewer and currently partern at Elysian Brewing. This book is well-written, entertaining, and informative.

This book, like the previous book _Stout_, is written from a professional point of view. This book also contains a survey of currently available commercial beers, one of the highlights of both _Stout_ and _Barley Wine_. Unlike _Stout_, however, the description of the style and the brewing information is thorough and complete. Although many of the tips information seem to be aimed at the brewpub brewer, they are nearly all applicable to homebrewers as well, and homebrewing tips are included.

Like all the books in this series, _Barley Wine_ has five sections: history of the style, flavor profile, ingredients, brewing procedures, and recipes. The history, like that for many styles, is hard to pin down, as Barleywine is closely tied with old ale, stock ale, and others and has evolved as brewing knowledge, and tax laws, have changed. The authors pay homage to Bass No. 1 Burton Ale, "probably the clearest antecedent for barleywine as a distinct style." Unfortunately, the last batch of No. 1 was brewed in 1995. Production of barleywines, like many traditional english beer styles, waned in the mid 20th century, but many new barleywines are available today. Thomas Hardy Ale was first brewed in 1968, and Anchor Old Foghorn, introduced in 1975, really ignited the American barleywine revolution.

The ingredients section is quite thorough, and a description of the "fifth ingredient", time, is included. For a style so big and given to excess, many brewers overdo their barleywines. Balance is the key, and the malt, hops, alcohol, and yeast must play off of each other. In the brewing section, advice is plentiful. I hadn't thought of the main reason to use high-alpha hops in barleywines: since so many hops are generally used, boiling the amount of low-alpha hops you would need often extracts tannins and vegetal flavors you don't want. They talk about personal experiments with cellaring barleywines. They find that cellaring at "cellar" temperatures (50-60F) give a smoother flavor to an aged beer than aging at very low temperatures.

The survey of professional brewers is interesting. A few of the published OGs: Bigfoot, 1.092; Bass No. 1 (1994): 1.110; Thomas Hardy Ale: 1.124; Old Bawdy (Pike): 1.098; Old Foghorn:1.100. All other aspects of Old Foghorn are listed as N/A, and the comments say that "one begins to feel as if the beer is brewed by some secret monastic order"!

The recipes look interesting; each was contributed by a "wide range of brewers" including Charlie Papzian (described as the godfather of American homebrewing), George & Laurie Fix (brewers, authors, beer fanatics), Ray Daniels (Mr. Real Ale America), A. F. Allen (unemployed keg washer picked up outside of Burton), and Greg Noonan (all around nice guy). As expected, the authors recommend a yeast starter with each recipe.

This book is one of my favorites in the style series. The authors' style makes the book enjoyable, and the depth of information and their obvious experience are evident. The only problem I have with the book is the publisher's decision to change the cover style and the size of the book. The first ten books in this series look classy and professional. On my shelf, this book looks completely different and more amateur-ish.