This Saturday's lunchtime brew makes my brain hurt

[voodoopenguin]

This is another offering from the brewery down the road.

[beerman]

If you mean you literally got a headache you are a victim of fusel alcohol. See the wiki article, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusel_oil

Fusel alcohols are formed when fermentation occurs:
at higher temperatures,
at lower pH,
when yeast activity is limited by low nitrogen content.

If the brewer is just trying to be cute with the name it's a bit of a stretch as 7% is about twice what a bud has in it but most craft brewers are in the 5-7% range for their beers.

btw, there's nothing i like better than a beer thread. I'm headed out to a friends house in about 30 minutes and he's gonna make some beer this morning. I need to get my own beer out of the fermenter and into the keg today.

[freeradical]

"Such a liquor may be referred to as rotgut."

LOL

[beerman]

Interesting, they describe that beer as a barley wine...

"A pale, smooth yet deceptively strong barley wine. It’s sweetness in the palate is perfectly balanced by a distinct hoppiness & bitterness."

That's a stretch as barely wines start at 8% according to wiki and I've never seen anything under 9% called a barley wine. "A barley wine typically reaches an alcohol strength of 8 to 12% by volume and is brewed from specific gravities as high as 1.120. It is called a barley wine because it can be as strong as wine;"

[voodoopenguin]

You are right that most barley wines are of a higher strength but I don't think that it's comparatively low 7% puts it outside the type. Certainly as it has won many awards over the years and our beer festivals are very strict when it comes to details like that I think it must still come under the term barley wine.

Although the alcohol content is something to think about and can add to the fun of beer imbibing my main reason for drinking these specialised beers is the flavour which in this case is excellent.

[beerman]

I checked with ratebeer.com and it scores a 3.28 out of 5 with 59 ratings. According to the BJCP guidelines a barleywine starts at 8% so unless someone is bending the rules they cannot enter it into a BJCP contest in that category. It could be entered as a "strong ale" though.

One of the people rating the beer have met with the brewer and claims it is made with Maris Otter malt and Goldings hops which I have in the garage. Given a few trial runs I'm sure we could duplicate it. :-)