After the rush: Tasting the winners at the Toronado’s Barleywine Fest ‘08, Lagunitas, Stone, Firestone-Walker Abacus Blend
Photo: Lagunitas brew crew, Pat Mace, left, Don Chartier, center, Jeremy Marshall
Credit: Willia Brand
THE TORONADO’S BARLEYWINE FEST REELS INTO THE SECOND DAY THIS MORNING, expect a crowd. The place was jammed all day and no doubt will still be crowded today as well. The fest goes on until all the beer’s gone, sometime toward the end of next week.
But if you want a chance at the best selection go soon and fight the crowd; it’s a friendly bunch. The trick is to find a list of the barleywines, you order by number. The choice is a small glass or a large glass. Go for the small glass. The winners numbers are Lagunitas - 5, Stone - 16 and Firestone-Walker - 13. It’s on tap in the back room, not at the main bar. Good luck.
This year there were 54 barley wines from as far away as Seattle (Pike Brewing Old Bawdy), Hawaii (Kona Old Blowhole 2005), Lander, Wyoming (Snake River Devil’s Teat), Mexicali, Baja California Norte, Mexico (Cucupa Barleywine — a winner last year), Juneau, Alaska (Big Nugget 2007, Alaskan Brewing) and Anchorage (Glacier Brewhouse Big Woody 2007). Also, Hoptimus Prime (Nodding Head, Philadelphia, PA.) and Sisyphus Barleywine (Real Ale Brewing, Blanco, Texas.
David Keene, the Toronado’s proprietor, said that flights of judges spent a long morning winnowing down the competitors.
I managed to fight my way through the crowds and get a sample the three winners. Here are my notes:
First: Lagunitas Gnarleywine 2006, Lagunitas Brewing, Petaluma, CA. True barleywine nose, sweet malt, some hops, dark copper color, slight head, fades quickly. Substantial sweetness throughout, with a bit of an oxidized note at the end.
Lagunitas head brewer Jeremy Marshall said that the oxidation, caused by aging gave the beer a little edge that the judges must have liked. I think the aging also mellowed the hops, blended the malts and hops and made is a softer, better beer. Oxidation can create a sherry-like taste, which is pleasant in some older beers.
Jeremy said the beer, which is 10 percent ABV, is a blend of two row pale barley malt, a bit of Munich malt and a variety of crystal malts, which add color and a full mouthfeel or taste. Cyrstal malt also speeds oxidation in a beer, Jeremy said. At least that’s what I think he said. I was sipping a cup of Pliny the Elder.
The IBUs (International Bitterness Units) are 50, fairly mellow for Lagunitas. (Quick comparison: Bud 13 IBU,
Lagunitas Hop Stoopid 100 IBU).
Second: Stone Old Guardian 2006, was also aged, but it was a different beer entirely. It was much milder, quite dry for a barleywine with a lot of hops in the follow. It’s also 10 percent.
Third: Firestone-Walker Abacus Blend is another of Matt Brynildson’s brewcrew productions, a blend of bourbon whiskey barrel-aged beers that were one and two years old.
It poured like a still wine, a flat, opaque deep brown with a mild, bourbon nose. Taste is quite dry with a rising sweetness and I swear a snatch of ripe cherries at the end. Wild! Delicious. Utterly different. Loved it.
Photos: Tasting a whole lot of barleywines at the Toronado Saturday.
Prizewinner Lagunitas Gnarleywine ‘06, right.