Strongest of all English ales. Highly alcoholic, malty and estery. Wine like in alcohol content and flavor. Well aged – often a year or more.
Profile
Full to wine-like chewy body. High hop rate, but low aroma and bitterness due to age. Alcohol warmth present. Fruity and malty. Gold to dark amber color. Caramel aroma. Low to moderate carbonation.
Ingredients
Lots of well modified pale malt with moderate caramel malt. Little or no darker malts. English hops such as Northdown, Target, EKG or Fuggles. High gravity English ale yeast. Moderate to hard water.
Examples
Bass No 1 Barley Wine, Anchor Old Foghorn, Fuller's Golden Pride, Thomas Hardy's Ale, Burton Bridge Thomas Sykes Old Ale, Robinson's Old Tom, Young's Old Nick, Whitbread Gold Label, Heavyweight Old Salty