Yesterday I got my hands on a few bottles of Avery's Hog Heaven (I almost wrote "instances" instead of bottles - guess I am still not fully detached from my old computer programming job).
I got a chance to taste Avery's Old Jubilation a few weeks ago. Their winter warmer has (to me) an alcohol presence that is stronger than the actual alcohol in the beer. I've written about it somewhere - either here or at Brainard Brewing.com or both. Not that it wasn't good, it was just strongly alcohol flavored at a modest 8.something ABV.
The Barley Wine is 9%, but it is not as highly alcohol flavored. In fact, it is very much IPA flavored, with plenty of Cascade hop citrus aroma and flavor emerging. Of course, it has all the Barley Wine malt character and a subtle, complementary, alcohol presence, but it was more hops than anything else really.
It isn't often that you can find a big beer that tilts towards the hops, but this one does so in a masterful way. I can't wait to try Fourteen in the coming days!
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