The older the better?

This issue, Roger Protz looks at old ale and barley wine

Old ale and barley wine are often linked but they are not one and the same, they are two quite distinct and separate styles.

Barley wine, as the name suggests, is strong in alcohol and historically was brewed as a rival to imported French wine.

Old ale, on the other hand, can have a modest strength of around 4.5% and was originally brewed as a component of blended country ales and the early porters.

But they do have one powerful bond: they are both stored beers and in their original form were matured for long periods, sometimes for several years. During maturation, old ale picked up a lactic sourness from natural bacteria in the wood of the oak tuns in which it was stored. As a result it was known in the 18th and 19th centuries by the less than appealing name of ‘stale.’ Barley wine, due to the extravagant use of the grain that gives its name to the style, developed a rich, vinous aroma and flavour during long ageing.

Both styles were draught beers, brewed at a time when packaged beer was either nonexistent or in its infancy. Once brewers stopped maturing or vatting beer in costly oak tuns, the styles largely disappeared but they are now enjoying a major revival on both sides of the Atlantic.

Barley wine for centuries was the preserve of the English aristocracy and had the potency of wine. Such beers were also known as October beers – October being considered the best month to make good ale with the new malts and hops of the autumn harvest – Dorchester beers, malt liquor.....

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By Roger Protz

Section : Beer styles

Page number : 58