Top 5 BA Barleywines

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by GottaTickemAll, May 18, 2013.

  1. I've been combing the internet trying to figure this out. I see a list on BA of the top most popular American Barleywines and 10 most popular English Barleywines, but they mix together non-barrel aged with barrel aged variants. So, what is your top 5 barrel aged barleywines of all time?

    Mine, from what I've tasted to date:

    King Henry
    Mother of all Storms
    Barrel Aged Old Numbskull.
    2beerdogs likes this.
  2. Michigan

    Michigan Initiate (0) Michigan Oct 24, 2012

    Bolt Cutter

  3. Hefewiseman

    Hefewiseman Savant (355) Florida Sep 6, 2011

    Haven't had King Henry or Mother of all Storms yet, but CCB Cognac barrel aged Church on a Hill was one of the most phenomenal beers I have ever tasted. It beats Sucaba by a long shot IMO.
  4. crowdedstr

    crowdedstr Zealot (75) Illinois Feb 24, 2011

    Goose Island Bourbon County Barleywine
  5. Michigan

    Michigan Initiate (0) Michigan Oct 24, 2012

    hype much?
  6. Kind of looking for people's rankings. For example, 1. King Henry 2. BA Church on a Hill 3. Leon.
  7. Haven't tried more than 5 due to availability and an overall disinterest in the style, but I have to say my favorite so far is Weyerbacher Insanity.
    Cenosillicaphobe and scott10010 like this.
  8. 1. Alpine GREAT
    2. Kuhnhenn BBBW
    3. Kuhnhenn BB4D (call it an Old Ale if you want, it's a BA Barleywine in my book)
    4. NEBCO Attempted Redrum
    5. King Henry
    jaxon53, josephwa, Gosox8787 and 2 others like this.
  9. eawolff99

    eawolff99 Advocate (590) Colorado May 10, 2010

    1. Twisted Trace
    2. Leon
    3. Attempted RedRum
    4. BA Old Numbskull
    5. BA Behemoth

    6. CW BBBW
    7. Kuhnhenn BBBW
    8. BA Hi-Fi
    9. MoaS
    10. King Henry
    josephwa, Curt1 and ThePorterSorter like this.
  10. Etan

    Etan Champion (755) Wisconsin Jul 11, 2011

    1. Bligh's
    2. Xyauyu Rum Barrel
    3. BA Naked Evil
    4. Sebago Single Batch
    5. Sucaba
  11. KH
    fujindemon74 likes this.
  12. dbc5

    dbc5 Savant (455) Ohio Jun 18, 2009

    1a) BA Church on a Hill
    1b) King Henry
    3) BA Monster 29
    4) Abacus
    5) Leon
  13. Brew33

    Brew33 Advocate (655) Ohio Oct 24, 2007

    BA Monster 29 (far and away my favorite)
    BA Naked Evil
    BA Hi-Fi Rye
    King Henry

    In order, I guess....
    Hugonaut13 and CityofBals like this.
  14. ajzy

    ajzy Savant (425) Wisconsin Jun 15, 2011

    1. CW BBBW
    2. Sucaba
    3. BA Church on a Hill
    4. Oak Horizontal
    5. BA Behemoth

    Kuhnhenn BB4D takes #2 on this list if we are calling that a BW

    I really need to try Leon and Great. I feel like King Henry is good but slightly overrated, as is MoaS.
    Phillyz likes this.
  15. 1. King Henry
    2. Mother of All Storms
    3. Naked Evil
    4. Arctic Devil
    5. Sucaba
    Hugonaut13, Docrock and djsmith1174 like this.
  16. bpfrush

    bpfrush Advocate (570) Wisconsin Jan 24, 2009

    1. King Henry
    2. Leon
    3. CBC Blunderbuss
    4. BA Hi-Fi Rye
    5. CW BBBW
  17. cookiequiz

    cookiequiz Savant (375) California Apr 15, 2013

    New prompt: top-5 list with the most acronyms and initialisms.
  18. davey101

    davey101 Initiate (0) Connecticut Apr 14, 2009

    1. CCB Leon
    2. GI King Henry
    3. FW Abacus
    4. NEBCO Attempted Redrum
    5. Sebago Single Batch BW
  19. Hard to tell whether some people like a Bourbon Barrel Barleywine Wine, or a Big Beautiful Black Woman.
  20. I dig BOTH !! :cool:
  21. 5 CW BBBW
    SourAddict likes this.
  22. Resuin

    Resuin Champion (890) Massachusetts Jun 18, 2012

    BA Bigfoot was really good, and I bet will get even better with age.
  23. drtth

    drtth Champion (870) Pennsylvania Nov 25, 2007

    For this one I have to repeat a variation of the answer I gave a while back when someone asked about top choice Bourbon Barrel Aged Stouts.

    My all time favorite is Weyerbacher's Insanity.

    While it may not be the single best I've had, it is very good and readily available at a reasonable price. While it does have a fairly high ABV, over the course of an entire evening I can have two in an evening if I want. It's also easy enough to find that I can easily cellar multiple bottles of it so as to have a 3-4 year vertical tasting for friends. The base beer, Blithering Idiot, is also a reasonably good and readily available BarleyWine so its possible to do a side by side with Insanity to explore what the bourbon barrel contributes. Indeed, a couple of years ago a small group of us had a vertical/side-by-side tasting that involved 3 years of Insanity and the same 3 years of Blithering Idiot, all aged under the same conditions.
  24. spicoli00

    spicoli00 Champion (760) Indiana Jul 6, 2005

    Revolution Straight Jacket
    Victory Oak Horizontal
    King Henry
    Oneinchaway and Phillyz like this.
  25. Is that your #5 or is your entire top 5 list all the same beer?
  26. All 5. But admittedly haven't had many. But the CW made BA Bigfoot taste like Bud Light.
  27. vacax

    vacax Advocate (630) California Jun 3, 2008

    Smog City Bourbon OE
    AleSmith BA Old Numbskull
    BA Naked Evil
    Abacus, from before they bottled it
    Alpine Great
    soughtbygod and Oneinchaway like this.
  28. 1. Leon
    2. King Henry
    3. Mother of all Storms
    4. Sucaba
    5. CBC Blunderbuss
    dachshunddude86 likes this.
  29. If I were to tally everyone's input so far and assign points, Rank 1 = 5 points, Rank 2 = 4 points, Rank 3 = 3 points, Rank 4 = 2 points, and Rank 5 = 1 point, then I'd say the overall top 12 is (distinguishing batch 1 Abacus from batch 2-3 Sucuba):

    King Henry 32
    CW BBBW 21
    Leon 19
    BA Church on a Hill 13
    BA Naked Evil 12
    MoaS 11
    Weyerbacher Insanity 11
    Sucuba 9
    Abacus (Bottled) 8
    BA Monster 29 8
    Bligh's 7
    Nebco Attempted Redrum 7
    BA Old Numbskull 6
    BA Hi-Fi 5
    Bolt Cutter 5
    GREAT 5
    Smog City Bourbon OE 5
    Twisted Trace 5
    CBC Blunderbuss 4
    Kuhnhenn BBBW 4
    Revolution Straight Jacket 4
    Xyauyu Rum Barrel 4
    Sebago Single Batch 3
    Victory Oak Horizontal 3
    Arctic Devil 2
    BA Behemoth 2
    Oak Horizontal 2
    Abacus (Before Bottled) 1
    2Xmd and s_wit like this.
  30. strangebrew321

    strangebrew321 Savant (380) Indiana Feb 18, 2009

    1 King Henry
    2 BA Behemoth
    3 MOAS
    4 Kuhnhenn BBBW
    5 BA Naked Evil
  31. MrNate

    MrNate Aficionado (245) Florida Mar 5, 2013

    I agree! I had Church on a Hill and Sucaba in the same week and Church on a Hill killed it. SOOOO good!
    Hefewiseman likes this.
  32. I was glad to find a few bottles of the Sebago recently
    davey101 likes this.
  33. Not being a huge BW guy, I do love the CBC Blunderbuss especially the port and madeira barrel versions.
  34. 1.) Goose Island King Henry (tried it twice, with 6 months and a year...both delicious....more trials to come)
    2.) Firestone Walker Sucaba...1-2 years
    3.) Firestone Walker Double DBA...1-2 years
    4.) Schlafly Oak-Aged Barleywine (oak-aged, though not 'barrel' aged)....perfect at about 3 years
    5.) Others that I've had here and there, but the above have stood out...maybe Daft from Urban Chestnut; I definitely drank it too early, though I could see a lot of potential there.
    ThePorterSorter likes this.
  35. davey101

    davey101 Initiate (0) Connecticut Apr 14, 2009

    Lucky! For the price and relative availability (a year ago) it's one of my favorite beers. Can't wait for the next batch to hit. Is there any more floating around up there?
  36. dbc5

    dbc5 Savant (455) Ohio Jun 18, 2009

    Church is my single highest rated beer to date. In my opinion, it blew Leon out of the water.
    MrNate likes this.
  37. Oneinchaway

    Oneinchaway Savant (255) California Jun 12, 2011

    In no particular order since they're all fantastic....

    1. Barrel Aged OE (Smog City Brewing)
    2. Hammerhead (Hangar 24)
    3. Straight Jacket (Revolution Brewing)
    4. Old Guardian (Rye Whiskey Barrel Aged)
    5. Sucaba (Firestone Walker)
  38. Found it in RI, there was still a bottle or two left last I time I was there.
  39. ajzy

    ajzy Savant (425) Wisconsin Jun 15, 2011

    Oh shit i forgot about Arctic Devil...also, BA Naked Evil is atrocious
    Beerontwowheels likes this.
  40. ajzy

    ajzy Savant (425) Wisconsin Jun 15, 2011

    Interesting--just picked up a bottle of Daft on whim this weekend in youre saying I should hang on to it?

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