Left Hand Widdershins Barleywine
Review Date
As I sip and type,
it's March 27th. Now, that date might not be significant to many of you, and
if you're not a beer aficionado then you're excused for not knowing its
significance. But for all you beer geeks out there, you should already know
what today is: Michael Jackson, the Beer Hunter's birthday. This Jackson, of
course, is not the Gloved One you may be more familiar with. But to beer
lovers everywhere, he was every bit the superstar in his own beery way.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
Also From This Brewery
Michael passed away a few scant years ago, and the beer world has been much
the poorer for it. His biting wit, his inimitable writing, and his intuitive
feel for style are sorely missed, and there will never be another like him.
Still, we celebrate his contributions to the world of beer tonight, and I'm
toasting his memory with a bottle of Left Hand Widdershins Barleywine.
Widdershins, of course, means a counterclockwise movement, and in
that spirit the label of this fine brew features a clock with hands in
seeming retrograde movement. Perhaps that's a reference to the oak aging,
not a usual practice for a barleywine? MJ certainly went against the grain
by writing about beer at a time when it was far more fashionable to do so
about wine.
Regardless, this is a formidable beer indeed, one powerful enough at over 9%
alcohol by volume to truly stop a clock. The beer is brewed with Crystal,
two row, and peated malts with red wheat to boot, plus a veritable hop soup
of Chinooks, Cascades, Mt. Hoods, Magnums, and Goldings. It boasts a
formidable 70 IBUs.
Good old MJ used to like to have fun with beer, and in that spirit I should
note that my bottle has a bit of age on it. I'm sipping the 2007 bottling,
which I purchased about a year and a half ago. Barleywines, being big beers,
are among the styles best suited to aging.
Left Hand Widdershins Barleywine pours to a bright but slightly hazy
orange color with a very thick foamy head formation. I've poured some of my
750 ML bottle into a large wide-mouthed brandy snifter to best appreciate
the heady aromas I'm expecting from the beer, and I get them: toffeeish
caramel, fresh bread, and citrus.
A sip bathes the tongue in thick, luxurious malt; indeed, it rolls across
the palate and deposits a plethora of wonderful flavors. Chewy caramel,
fresh doughy bread, citrusy orange are the most prominent, but there's a
hint of spicy pepper, too, and while I don't get a lot of oak, there is a
hint of it in the finish, accented by a dash of vanilla. Perhaps a hint of
smoke, too?
The hops still make their presence known, very grassy and herbal in the
finish and nicely bitter. Along with the decided alcohol warmth, they
balance nicely. All in all, a very tasty barleywine, and while not one I
enjoy perhaps so much as Rogue Old Crustacean or Sierra Nevada Bigfoot, one
worth trying, even if it is pricey at $12 for a 750ML bottle.
