Avery Hog Heaven-Barleywine Style Ale
May 7, 2010
I’m always up for trying something new in craft beers, so this review of the Avery Hog Heaven Barleywine-Style Ale is a first on two fronts!
I looked, and nope, I’ve never reviewed a beer from Avery. This is my first beer from them! Second, this is my first exposure to a barleywine-style beer. Live large people. Live large.
So, what’s a barley wine style ale anyway? Well, so far as I can tell, (with 2 minutes of research on Wikipedia) a barley wine style ale “…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; but since it is made from grain rather than fruit it is in fact a beer.”
So there we go. Right off the bat, Hog Heaven Barley Wine is 9.2% ABV, but I have a feeling there is more to the style than being at ‘wine strength’. Heck, most beers I try now are in this neighborhood and they aren’t considered barley wines. Anybody want to fill us in with barley wine 101?
On to the beer then!
Avery Hog Heaven, as I mentioned is a respectable 9.2% ABV beer that pours a cloudy dark amber color into my standard pint glass. The Avery website says the beer is garnet colored, but I’m sticking with dark amber because that’s the kind of mood I’m in!
There’s a decent frothy off-white head that is created that has excellent retention – and there’s really good lacing on the glass to boot throughout. The aroma is mostly hops – if I were a beer dummy (don’t say anything) I might guess that this were a strong American Pale Ale or maybe an IPA. It’s got that kind of aroma to it. Hops,are big here, but if you wait a bit there’s also a good deal of sweetness that comes through – a malty sweetness that makes it a little different than what is customary in these parts!
Referring back to the Avery website, it turns out that the hops are of the ‘Colombus’ variety, and the malts are ‘two-row barley’ and then there’s mention of ‘caramel 75L’. Not sure exactly if that means there is a caramel malt or the 75L is a measurement of caramel, but sure enough that sweetness does remind me of it!
Well, here goes! Tasting my first barley wine ale was a treat. I’ll admit that I had shied away from hoppy beers in the past and I probably would have never bought a beer like this a few months ago. But while the Avery website proclaims that this beer is a ‘hop lover’s delight’ I found that the hop taste was well balanced with that nice malt flavor and a nice sweetness.
I also appreciated that even at 9.2% ABV, the alcohol flavors in this beer were not over-the-top. That’s one of the things I dislike about some of the Southern Tier Imperial beers. The alcohol is well up-front which I don’t really like. Its not the same type of beer obviously, but in contrast, at 9.2%, the alcohol flavors are not the focus in this Avery brew.
The sweetness is also not overdone, but you can really pick up on the fact that this 22 oz bomber is (I’m sure) loaded with calories!
Mouthfeel is nice – its a beer with some body and its kind of slick but it doesn’t leave a sticky feeling in the mouth like some of the sweeter Belgian-style ales which may or may not use this caramel stuff. There is a nice aftertaste, and the beer really hides the high ABV very well. No warming really, so be careful here!
Overall, I’d say that my first Avery beer, and my first barley-wine style ale were very enjoyable. If I had to describe it in super-layman terms (what other way can I???) I’d say this particular beer is a cross between an IPA and a strong, not dark Belgian (like Van Damme?). Its not overly hoppy, nor is it overly sweet or boozy either. I’m impressed, and having consumed 22oz of this stuff, I’m ready for a nap as well!
Its hard to rate this beer because I don’t have anything to compare it to. I like it, and I would get it again – but I can’t really say its great because I need a benchmark. For now, Hog Heaven is my barley-wine benchmark and I’m going to give it 3.5 stars. Not bad at all. I’d also say that this would be a great beer for the warmer Summer months! While a bit on the sweet side, its not heavy and its quite refreshing.
Rating: 
What’s your take on Hog Heaven or barley wines in general? What makes them so special and what do you recommend that I try to broaden my exposure to this interesting beer style?
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Posted in 3 Star Reviews, Ales, American Beers
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May 7th, 2010 at 10:25 am
The 75 L refers to the Lovibond scale, which is a measure of how dark the wort will be. A 3L is going to produce golden colored beer, where a stout and some porters use a malt called black patent and it comes in at 250-400L, which is pure black. Generally the base malts are in the 2-6L range and the specialty malts will give the beer it’s color and complexity.
I actually got the beer not to long ago and it didn’t blow me away. I thought that there wasn’t enough malt backbone to support the amount of hops. But then again some barelywines are really hoppy with high ABV’s and others are more balanced. That is both the problems and blessing with barelywines, the style is really wide open.
.-= Nate´s last blog ..The next trend in craft beer =-.
May 7th, 2010 at 10:48 am
Here in the UK Barley Wines tend to be strong dark ales, less full bodied than a porter, but packing a punch. Robinson’s ‘Old Tom’ and Thomas Hardy’s Ale are often considered to be Barley Wines, but are marketed as strong ales. Neither are particularly hoppy @nate.
The only Barley Wine I can remember being directly marketed as such was Whitbread Gold Label – back in the seventies, but being a mere child I never tasted it.
.-= BobtheBrit´s last blog ..The Number of the Beast =-.
May 7th, 2010 at 10:50 am
Thanks for sharing that great info Nate. I found the beer to be interesting, and I’m looking forward to trying some others.
.-= Scott-TheBrewClub´s last blog ..Samuel Smith’s Famous Taddy Porter =-.
May 7th, 2010 at 11:00 am
If you see this around grab it. http://www.eastendbrewing.com/?q=node/24 I believe it is one of the best barelywines out here, it is just a pain to find bc it is such a limited release. The brewer hand dips each bottle in wax and hand number/signs them. I managed to get a bottle at the Drafting Room in Exton, Pa.
.-= Nate´s last blog ..The next trend in craft beer =-.
May 7th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
There’s two styles of Barleywine. The one you had is American Style. American is characterized by having a lot of hops with a very solid malt backbone balancing the hops and usually around 9-12%abv. The British style is much more malt driven, with low hopping rates and is much sweeter. The difference between a double IPA and an American Barleywine is pretty much the malt to balance the hops and just plain old brewer intent at times.
The standard bearer for American Barleywines is Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine. It’s very hoppy but it has a strong malt presence that balances the bitterness. I would definitely say to check it out if you liked Hog Heaven. I enjoyed Hog Heaven, but found the fruitiness a little much at times.
May 7th, 2010 at 4:25 pm
@Jeff – great explanation – thanks! I think I’ll give the bigfoot a try, I see it pretty much everywhere.
.-= Scott-TheBrewClub´s last blog ..Samuel Smith’s Famous Taddy Porter =-.
May 10th, 2010 at 4:31 pm
While I haven’t had huge number of American barleywines, Avery’s Hog Heaven is definitely one of my favorites. I also really enjoy Great Divide’s Old Ruffian and Victory’s Old Horizontal.
May 10th, 2010 at 4:41 pm
@Daniel – Thanks for stopping in and the suggestions. I’m pretty sure I can find the Victory one in these parts so I’ll look for it. Tnx!
.-= Scott-TheBrewClub´s last blog ..Dundee Honey Brown Lager =-.
May 10th, 2010 at 10:12 pm
after having Avery’s (mind-blowingly delicious) Maharaja on draft a few weeks back, I’m on a mission to try just about any of their beers that I can get my hands on. tremendous. I’m not usually the biggest barleywine fan, but I would definitely give theirs a shot.
.-= platypotamus´s last blog ..Honey Weizen – Homebrew Batch #2 =-.
May 11th, 2010 at 12:41 am
@platypotamus – this was my first barley wine and thought it was great. Avery is one of those brewers you just hear one good thing after another so I can understand your quest. Not a bad idea actually…
.-= Scott-TheBrewClub´s last blog ..Wells Banana Bread Beer =-.
May 11th, 2010 at 10:44 am
Like bob said british barleywines shy away from hops…that’s how I like my barleywines. Like you suggested, there isn’t much of a difference between an american barleywine and a double IPA. the bjcp guide even shows an overlap. I think of Avery’s hog heaven as a Double English IPA.
If you get a chance, look JW Lees series of barleywines…they are superb, and showcase malt over hops.
I just bottled my own barley wine. I used nearly 100% marris otter and had a pretty minimal IBU. I haven’t tasted it since it’s been bottled, but like Thomas Hardy’s, I think it will need a year or two in the bottle.
.-= nate´s last blog ..A Beer Owned By Rogue =-.
May 11th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
Thanks Nate – I’m learning a lot about the style from all of the great comments! (just what I was hoping for!) Thanks for the suggestions too – I think I’d like maltier barley wines even though I did enjoy this one from Avery. I suppose my aversion to hoppy beers is fading!
.-= Scott-TheBrewClub´s last blog ..Hogsback TEA – Traditional English Ale =-.
May 11th, 2010 at 4:09 pm
You’ll like this post from Charlie Papazian about the difference between barleywines and DIPAs: http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-241-Beer-Examiner~y2009m10d12-When-is-a-double-IPA-a-barley-wine-ale
My favorite part is his quote at the end: “A barley wine before its time is like a mountain without a peak.”
That must have been my problem, because I didn’t care much for Hog Heaven. It was just too aggressively bitter and not at all what I expected from a barleywine. I think I’ll get another one, age it for a while, and try again. Avery is a great brewery though.
.-= Billy Broas´s last blog ..How to Make a Yeast Starter =-.
May 11th, 2010 at 7:36 pm
Great link Billy – thanks for sharing that! If anything, I found it to be a bit too sweet rather than too bitter, but it was definitely more hoppy than malty. The label suggested it would get better over a couple of years and I was tempted to do it – maybe next time!
.-= Scott-TheBrewClub´s last blog ..Happy Birthday to Us! =-.