ratebeer

Four Peaks Hopsquatch Barleywine

Four Peaks Brewing Company (AB InBev)
Tempe, Arizona
Beer style: Barley Wine / Wheat Wine / Rye Wine
Ref: ratebeer.com May2024

Common descriptors are
What is it? Barleywines are super strength beers that have their roots in old England. They are comparable to Ports or Sherry in their sweet flavor and high potency. Ours is more of an American style in that it has been infused with massive amounts of hops. How was it made so strong? Lots of malt. In other words, lots of food for yeast. More yeast food equals more alcohol. When there is so much alcohol though, the beer needs time fore those flavors to mellow out. So we aged Hopsquatch for one year in stainless. This long aging period also allowed some of the harsh bitter flavor from the hops to buffer out and blend with all of the other flavors. This creates a fine, full flavored, very complex ale. What’s with the name? Traditionally barleywines have colorful names like, Monster, Old Nick, Sudden Death, Old Knucklehead, Old Fart, etc. Ours is no different. When we brewed it we had these metaphorical visions of a twelve foot tall hop-covered beast lurking in the cellar for a year. No body believed us, so like the legend of Bigfoot, Hopsquatch was born… That, and it sounds funny. What’s with the "Pimp-Chalice" glassware? See the above description (Hat tip to all the brewers on this one).