Barley wine is not actually a
wine but, being made from
malt and
hops, a
beer. As a general rule barley wine is similar to
strong ale, only stronger (between 10 and 13 per cent
ABV). Barley wine is a beer of
English origin, although it is
brewed comercially in
America too nowadays. Barley wine is
bottle conditioned (or
cask conditioned) and thus can be aged for a while.
Due to its high
alcohol content it should be matured for at least 6 months and some people will cellar it for 5 years.
Barley wine is made using a top
fermenting ale yeast. It has little
perceived bitterness, even with a reasonable amount of hopping due to the large amount of malt.
Old Nick is one of the easier barley wines to find (
YMMV natch).