When winter winds leave you chilled to the bone, you’re going to need something to help warm you up. Sexy sauna trip, anyone? Of course, when hopping in a sauna isn’t viable you might want to reach for something a little more accessible. In which case… may we interest you in some high-ABV, warming, spiced barleywine?
For the newbies, barleywines aren’t wines at all. They’re strong ales (with wine-like ABVs) that are known for their malty, warming, fruity, caramel, toffee, and Christmas spice flavors. They’re often enjoyed slowly in a snifter while letting the warmth of your hand slightly heat the beer while opening up the various levels of flavor. They’re perfectly complemented by a warm, fleece blanket, and a roaring fireplace.
Unlike lagers and IPAs, you actually might have to search to find a great barleywine. Lucky for you, we asked a handful of brewers, beer professionals, and craft beer experts to shout out their favorite barleywines to drink this winter. Keep scrolling to see all of their picks.
Dogfish Head Olde School
AJ Snapp, tour operations coordinator for City Brew Tours
ABV: 15%
Average Price: $16 for a four-pack
Why This Beer?
I would drink Dogfish Head’s Olde School every evening if I could. Weighing in at 15 percent ABV and fermented with dates and figs, this barleywine is one of the first beers I remember obsessing over. It has a complex fruity aroma, warms you as you drink it, and only gets better as it ages.
Revolution Straight Jacket
Dave Colt, co-founder and head brewer at Sun King Brewery in Indianapolis
ABV: 16%
Average Price: $25 for a four-pack
Why This Beer?
My pick is Revolution Brewing’s Straight Jacket. It’s a bourbon barrel-aged barleywine that features American and Belgian malts that lend a hand to the molasses, vanilla, and toasted coconut aromas.
Perennial Vermilion
Stephen Hale, founding brewer at Schlafly Beer in St. Louis
ABV: 13.6%
Average Price: $13 for a 750ml bottle
Why This Beer?
Perennial Artisan Ales Vermilion Barleywine is the one I’d go with. It lives up to its name. It’s rich, lustrous, and just what one needs during barleywine season. If you can find it, definitely grab a bottle or two and stock up for the winter months.
Bull & Bush Royal Oil
Wade Meyer, brewer at WeldWerks Brewing Co. in Greeley, Colorado
ABV: 13.5%
Average Price: Limited Availability
Why This Beer?
I love Royal Oil from Bull & Bush. It’s one of the best and easily available examples of barleywine in Colorado. With notes of raisins, toffee, caramelized figs with a slight hint of sherry, it’s a quintessential barrel-aged barleywine that doesn’t overpower the barrel.
This is one of Colorado’s best-kept secrets.
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot
Brad Bergman, director of brewing at Sycamore Brewing in Charlotte, North Carolina
ABV: 9.6%
Average Price: $14 for a six-pack
Why This Beer?
I gravitate toward drier barleywines that are more hop-forward but still have that malt complexity that’s a barleywine’s signature. Bigfoot Barleywine by Sierra Nevada hits those notes for me. I’ve had a few verticals of it and it ages well. Though when fresh, it borders on being a malty DIPA. The sweet malt notes are present but subdued versus many others out there, and the big punchy hop flavors bring everything together for me.
Firestone Walker Helldorado
Brandon Proff, managing partner at Our Mutual Friend Brewing in Denver, Colorado
ABV: 12%
Average Price: $17 for a 22-ounce bottle
Why This Beer?
Firestone Walker Helldorado is a barrel-aged barleywine with the gravitas that few breweries bring to making beer. It’s more English than American in style. It’s darker in color, rich with toffee, caramel, oak, and vanilla. It’s warming without the alcohol burn.
Firestone Walker has always been an inspiration to us in showing just how good straightforward beers can be without any novelty or fluff to them.
Anchor Old Foghorn
Shaun O’Sullivan, co-founder and brewmaster at 21st Amendment Brewery in San Francisco
ABV: 8.8%
Average Price: $17 for a six-pack
Why This Beer?
Anchor Old Foghorn is a favorite and one of the first barleywines that I enjoyed back in the 1990s at Father’s Office in Santa Monica, California where they would often have all of Anchor’s beers on tap — a rare sight back in the day. The English-style barleywine with its deep malt, toffee, and raisin character is best served a touch warm and in a snifter glass allowing it to open up showcasing its complexity.
J.W. Lee’s Harvest Ale
Matthew Barry, director of operations at Fieldwork Brewing Company in Berkeley, California
ABV: 11.5%
Average Price: $10 for a 9.3-ounce bottle
Why This Beer?
J.W. Lee’s Harvest Ale would be my pick. No one does barleywine better, and none ever will. In my opinion, it’s the absolute pinnacle of English barleywine. It’s made only once a year and always unique. It’s full of dark fruit (plum, raisins, figs), melted caramel, and toffee. The complexity only integrates and improves after aging for a while, but don’t let that dissuade you from popping open a fresh one.
If anyone has a bottle of the inaugural vintage from my birth year of 1986, let me know.
Avery Hog Heaven
Charles McManus, head brewer at Phantom Canyon Brewing Company in Colorado Springs, Colorado
ABV: 9.2%
Average Price: $13 for a six-pack
Why This Beer?
Hog Heaven from Avery Brewing has always stood out from the pack for me. Being an American barleywine, the hops are the main feature here, but the deep, decadent malt structure is expertly executed.
Thomas Hardy’s Ale
Mark Youngquist, founder of Dolores River Brewery in Dolores, Colorado
ABV: 11.7%
Average Price: $12 for an 11-ounce bottle
Why This Beer?
Thomas Hardy’s Ale by Thomas Hardy is the beer that introduced me to barleywine. It’s a beer that flew in the face of everything I thought I knew about brewing at the time and a beer that melted my face the first time I had it. At first taste, it’s just sweet, but like with a good whiskey, the complexities begin to blossom and shine as the tasting goes on. Notes of prune and rose, vanilla and pomegranate, figs and dates, and coffee shine.
Thomas Hardy is released as vintage, and I’ve never tasted the same beer twice, but each time was delicious.
Private Press Pools of Reflection
Patrick Ware, co-founder and head of brewing ops at Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co. in Phoenix, Arizona
ABV: 14.1%
Average Price: Limited Availability
Why This Beer?
Pools of Reflection from Private Press is full of maple, bourbon, and oak that all play so well together. The blend here is well-executed, allowing sticky caramel/toffee textures to balance with spicy vanillin wood complexity. I probably couldn’t drink this forever due to the ABV, but a small pour with a decadent dessert would be ideal on any occasion.
