Barleywine Season Approaches, Events Begin To Amass

Killer barleywine

As the calendar year rolls over and the harsh winter winds gain ferocity, there is one thing that keeps me going…propels me forward towards the impending spring that seems ever so far away…warms my bones and heart when nothing else can thaw the freeze…BARLEYWINE!  The mother of all beers.  The demolisher of livers.  My good friend that never fails to deliver.

To quote the late, great Michael Jackson, “Because I wanted to have a place that I could create everything that I never had as a child. So, you see rides. You see animals. There’s a movie theater.”  Oh wait, wrong MJ.  Try this one – “This is very distinctive, with an earthy hoppiness, a wineyness, lots of fruit and toffee flavours.”  Mr. Jackson, as always, produced a precise and concise summary of the style with that sentence, though his description is by no means the end all be all of the style, especially when some of the more experimental craft breweries get their creative juices flowing.  Many of my personal favorite examples of the style are more like uber-balanced imperial IPAs.  You will also find versions that have been barrel aged or that resemble more of an imperial stout or eisbock.  The possibilities are endless with barleywine, and that why I love them so.

Last year I got my own creative juices a flowin’ in my expression of deep admiration for the style.  In case you missed it, follow this link.

Though the two local, not to be missed, mega-celebrations of barleywine are still about a month and a half to two months away [Beveridge Place Pub's Bacchanal (date yet to be set) and Brouwer's Hard Liver (March 12th)], the good folks at Pike Pub & Brewery are celebrating the season with the annual vertical tasting of Old Bawdy (96 on Rate Beer).  Check out the details below.

OLD BAWDY VERTICAL TASTING
of Rare Archived Vintages

DATE: Sunday, January 30, 2011

TIME: 1:00 PM – 6:00 PM

LOCATION: The Museum Room, Pike Brewing Company
1415 1st Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101

COST: $20 with RSVP by January 29th
$25 at the door
PIKE PUB CLUB and WABL members: $15 (passport required)

RSVP: Tara 206.812.6604

WHAT IS OLD BAWDY BARLEY WINE?
Old Bawdy Barley Wine is a rich, concentrated elixir that is best served as a digestive, or to

accompany lusty cheese, artisan bread, fruit (fresh or dried) and nuts, or at the end of the meal.

Fine Barley Wines, when properly cellared, can be aged. Old Bawdy develops in complexity as it

matures, and can be laid down for up to 10 years.

THE HISTORY
Seattle’s history of lusty beer dates to pioneer days when the local population was made up

primarily of men. Bawdy houses abounded and by the time naughty Nellie Curtis established

the La Salle Hotel, this “city on the sound” reverberated with the echoes of fun and frolic.

The La Salle, where Pike Brewery was established in 1989, was the last of Seattle’s infamous

“bawdy houses.”Pike’s Old Bawdy Vertical Tasting is an annual toast to commemorate

Nellie Curtis and her “ladies of pleasure.”