Beard of Zeus Barrel-Aged Barley Wine

A big ol’ beer deserves a fun bottle, and the 500mL bottles of Beard of Zeus Barrel-Aged Barley Wine are definitely that—they feature a mirror-eyed thunder god wielding a bolt and the label has a cool metallic rainbow tint. The beer is an 11.8% bruiser with 28 IBUs. It’s a cloudy brew, ruddy to the point of dried blood, with a thin cream head. BoZ is produced by Toronto's Great Lakes Brewery.

BoZ has complex aromatics, with notes of dried fruit, red wine, clove, and just a hint of bubble gum. The flavour is extremely woody, sweet, with date and raisin notes, ample boozy bombast, and a spice-rich back end. The beer has a thick texture and a very warm finish.

BoZ is potent and punchy. It’s got loads of complicated flavours and a whole lot of booze. Perhaps too sweet, but so it goes with barley wines. Commendably, despite all of its complexity, this beer lists only four ingredients—water, barley, yeast, and hops—making it Reinheitsgebot approved.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Ginger Belle Barrel-Aged Barley Wine

From Barrie, Ontario’s Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery, Ginger Belle Barrel-Aged Barley Wine has a whole lot going on. The beer is actually a blend of two of the Monkeys’ ales—their Gingerbread Stout and their Belle Époque Imperial Belgian IPA. That blend is aged four years in bourbon barrels resulting in a high-octane 11.3% concoction. The beer is sold in boxed 473mL bottles. It’s a hazy, rust-brown ale with a thin layer of cream head. I picked this one up in April with the idea of letting it age a bit—only made it to October, though.

Ginger Belle has an aroma that is sweet, boozy, and heavily spiced. The flavour has a rowdy combo of notes: mulled apple cider, cranberry tartness, spicy ginger, woodsy sweetness, and a crackle of evergreen hops. The lengthy barrel-aging is evident, manifested in sweetness, bourbon notes, and a thick mouthfeel.

This is a bit of a kitchen sink ale—there is a whole lot going on, making the beer a bit muddled, but nonetheless quite enjoyable. It’s spicy and warm, making it a welcome treat for a chilly evening—I don’t know that I’d recommend drinking it, as I did, on a fairly warm October Sunday afternoon.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Where the Buffalo Roam

Watching a little NCAA basketball on a lazy Saturday, I was feeling bold, so I reached for a 473mL can of Where the Buffalo Roam. Brewed by Cameron’s Brewing Co., it comes from Oakville, Ontario. For some reason, the can comes in a box, which strikes me as excessive.  This barley wine packs a liver-battering 13% alcohol and 90 IBUs. Oak aged in bourbon barrels, the Buff is jumbo brew with a cloudy dullish brown-orange colour and a thick and durable cloud of off-white head.

For so strong an ale, Where the Buffalo Roam has an understated aroma, with toffee and raisin notes, and a blast of boozy warmth. To the tongue, there is nothing understated about this stuff, though it is quite mellow. The front end is sweet and a bit woody, led by dried fruit and treacle notes, while the finish is remarkably bitter—not in a hoppy sense, exactly; more of a molasses bitterness.

Where the Buffalo Roam has a bruisingly high percentage and a huge amount of flavour. But for all of that, it is a multifaceted brew. It’s too big to be subtle, but it does contain multitudes. As with many barley wines, I found this beer to be a bit too sweet, but unlike the bulk of brews in this style, I didn’t find this ale to be particularly spicy.

London Balling

London Balling is a barley wine from Louisville, Kentucky. Brewed by Against the Grain Brewery, LB comes in funky 16oz cans with an inked up punk gent. At 12.5%, this beer is a good one to share, which I did with the illustrious M.M.--apologies but somewhere in the downing of this strong ale, I seem to have forgotten to take a picture.

The brew is a swampy brown sludge with a creamy head. It has a sticky dried fruit aroma with some caramel notes. The taste is big, boozy, and complicated, with some rummy fruitcake elements, a hefty malt base, and ample sweetness. Not much here by way of bitterness, but the strength keeps things on the rails.

Against the Grain's London Balling is a nice brew with some serious attitude. Strong and sweet, you're not gonna reach for a second, but the first will leave you feeling mellow.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Monster Ale

Monster Ale is a "barleywine style ale" and an "extra strong ale", brewed in Brooklyn, New York, by the Brooklyn Brewery. Sold in 355mL bottles, Monster Ale contains a ghoulish 10.3% alcohol. It pours a golden orange colour, just slightly cloudy, with a creamy head.

Monster has an aroma of boozy caramel and some raisin fruitiness. It has a rich flavour, sweet without being syrupy or cloying. There are notes of dark fruit which compliment the boozy warmth. Monster tastes like a strong beer, but it doesn't taste like a REALLY strong beer, which makes it pretty dangerous.

I'm not a big barleywine fan, but this stuff is pretty intriguing. The bottle informed me that the 355mL bottle of Monster amounted to approximately 2.9 standard drinks.  Formidable. I definitely wouldn't seek out Monster's alcoholic bombast on an average evening, but it was pretty nice brew.

Rating; 8.0 out of 10.