March 29, 2000 -- Monday, March 20, was the occasion of both the Vernal Equinox and a full moon, so somehow the scheduling of a barley wine tasting on that night seemed right. Besides, I had accumulated a bunch of barley wines in the cellar, and even though I was certain that most would keep until next winter, it struck me that the approach of spring and the accompanying end of barley wine season heralded a good time for a cellar clear-out.

I had eleven barley wines, and one more was added by one of my guest tasters to bring the total to an even dozen. It was an all North American affair, with four of the beers being Canadian and the rest hailing from the United States. The first three pairs tasted were: Druid Fluid from Middle Ages Brewing of Syracuse, New York, and Fogg Fighter from the Spinnakers Brewpub of Victoria, British Columbia; St. Ambroise Vintage Ale from Brasserie McAuslan of Montreal, Quebec, and Monster from the Brooklyn Brewery of Brooklyn, New York; and Blithering Idiot from Weyerbacher Brewing of Easton, Pennsylvania, and Alien Ale from Kawartha Lakes Brewing of Peterborough, Ontario.

Tasting under the full moon were Kevin Fair of the Real Beer Page, Brian Morin, executive chef for Prime Restaurants, and Ron Keefe, owner and brewer at Toronto's Granite Brewery brewpub. Plus, of course, yours truly.

The evening got off to a great start with a pair of wonderful barley wines from either side of the continent. The 9.5% (all alcohols listed by volume) Druid Fluid had a nice chocolaty nose and a fair-sized hop and alcohol presence in the body, while the 8% Fogg Fighter demonstrated a much fruitier character with a big cherry, peach and apricot nose and a full, fruity and slightly nutty body. Both beers warmed nicely in the finish and left all the tasters with excellent impressions. The consensus, though, fell in favour of the Spinnakers brew, with only Kevin favouring the hoppier Middle Ages barley wine.

The second pairing provided the first highlight and the first disappointment of the night. The 9.4% St. Ambroise Vintage wowed all present with what I described as a Paarl brandy-like aroma and a full but noticeably youthful complexity. The 11.8% Monster, on the other hand, held an orangy nose that Kevin likened to the paste he remembered from elementary school, to the agreement of others, and a fairly flat, slightly nutty and fully alcoholic body. Naturally, the St. Ambroise beer got the nod from everyone, plus my strong recommendation for at least a few years of cellar time.

The final duo of the first half of the tasting was not exactly a stunning success, although neither provoked the negative reactions spawned by the Monster. The fruity, 11.1% Blithering Idiot had a big, perfumey, fruity nose and a body to match, but not much in the way of hops or complexity to moderate it all. The 8.9% Alien Ale, brewed 2 1/2 years earlier and carefully aged, had not held its years all that well, with a promising fruity-nutty nose belying the flat, berry-ish body. Perhaps the problem was that these two beers appeared too simple relative to the hugely complex St. Ambroise just tasted, but the consensus was that neither was all that exciting. The winner by a nose, though, was the Alien Ale.

(Part II posted March 30)

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