A Visitor Welcomed in Cold Weather

Industry News by DREWSESLU

From the New York Times Online Article: By ERIC ASIMOV Published: January 25, 2006 PEOPLE who love cold weather appreciate it not just for the skiing, the ice fishing or the joy of having their eyelashes turn brittle enough to break in the winter chill. No, they love it because when the insanity is over, getting warm feels so gloriously wonderful. That is the moment for a cozy fire, woolen socks and a favorite robe; for Tolstoy, not a tell-all; for nutritious resonance rather than fleeting charm. And it is the time for barley wine, the robust, complex brewed counterpart to Port, Madeira or Armagnac. That's right, brewed. Barley wine is not a wine at all but a beer, or to be geekishly precise, a top-fermented ale of exceptional strength, power and length. Barley wines are not for chugging after a workout. They are not refreshing but thought-provoking, sip by contemplative sip. Many even benefit from cellaring, most for a year or two, but some for a decade or more. Barley wines are sometimes dated with the brewing equivalent of the vintage year, and, even more so than wine, vintages can be entirely different. I like to think of Bilbo Baggins, comfortable and secure in his paneled Hobbit hole, with a cupboard full of seedcakes and a mug of barley wine. Hobbits? Well, it's my own flight of fancy and not meant at all to minimize the assertive power of barley wines, which after all are as British as the folklore that inspired Tolkien. As Garrett Oliver writes in his essential book, "The Brewmaster's Table" (HarperCollins, 2003): "In the early 1700's the emergence in England of a wealthy merchant class, the development of pale malts, and a more scientific approach to the brewing process gave rise to ales that rivaled the finest wines in their finesse, complexity and strength. These beers were not for the masses, but for the aristocracy, who had grown tired of having their wine supplies cut off by pesky wars with France." While their heritage may be British, barley wines have now inspired two generations of American craft brewers, who have taken on the style as a special challenge and an opportunity at personal expression. No beer tests a brewer's skill so much as barley wine. It requires a prolonged fermentation, and the brewer must cajole the yeast, which transforms sugar into alcohol, with as much care and precision as a jockey guides a thoroughbred through a crowded field to victory. The result is a strong brew, 9 or 10 percent alcohol at a minimum, as against a typical beer's 5 percent. Many American brewers aim even bigger, naturally, up to 15 percent, while staying true to the complex, evocative spirit of barley wine. Not content to leave it to the aristocrats or even the Hobbits, the Dining section's tasting panel recently sampled 25 barley wines - 20 from the United States, four from Britain, and one version, quite good, from the Netherlands. For the tasting, Florence Fabricant and I were joined by Mr. Oliver, who is also the brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery, and Phil Markowski, the brewmaster at the Southampton Publick House, a restaurant and brewery in Southampton, N.Y. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/25/dining/25wine.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2