While barleywines can be found year-round, they become more plentiful in the fall and winter. They are strong, and as their style name indicates they often have wine-like qualities. “I think there is a group of craft beer consumers who have an affinity for them,” says Mike Christensen, vice president for sales at Milwaukee Brewing Company. Grand Madame is the brewery’s fall seasonal. It’s a robust take on the style with an added layer of flavor from a year of aging in brandy barrels.
What is it? Grand Madame from Milwaukee Brewing Company.
Style: Barleywines are full-bodied beers, deep bronze to dark brown in color. They showcase complex blends of malts and hops, with wine-like strength that often tops 10% ABV. English versions of the style emphasize malty sweetness, while American versions are usually hoppier.
Background: Milwaukee Brewing first offered a version of this beer in 2016. That year half of the batch was aged in brandy barrels and other in sherry barrels. “It all started by our brewers having fun with a lot of grains,” says Christensen. This year it’s entirely aged in brandy barrels secured from the Copper and King Brandy Company of Louisville, Kentucky. Over the years the brewery has made a number of beers using the distillery’s barrels that have included Louie’s Resurrection and Louie’s Cherry Bounce. Christensen says the brewery has been experimenting with several other beer styles aged in used absinthe barrels from the distillery.
Grand Madame’s layers of bready sweetness comes from caramel, Munich, pale, Carapils and Extra Special malts. It’s assertively bittered with U.S.-grown Bravo hops and a slight amount of English East Kent Golding.
Milwaukee Brewing likes to name its beers to tie in with local history and prominent people in Milwaukee’s colorful past. Grand Madame is a reference to Katherine “Kittie” Williams who was known as the “Grand Madame” of Milwaukee’s red-light district dating to the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Milwaukee Brewing’s Grand Madame finishes at 11.5 percent ABV and 50 IBUs. It is sold in four-packs for around $10.
Tasting notes:
- Aroma: Bready maltiness with hints of brandy.
- Appearance: Hazy copper bronze. A thin, bubbly, off-white head.
- Texture: Full-bodied with roundness and alcoholic warmth.
- Taste: Caramel maltiness, hints of raisin, fig and molasses with spicy warmth throughout.
- Finish/Aftertaste: Lingering spicy alcohol and deep malty and smooth sweet/fruity complexity. Brandy-like.
Glassware: Barleywines are big beers that deserve to be sipped. For that reason, serve this one somewhat warm at 45-48 5-48 degrees Farenheit in a snifter to get the most out of its boozy aroma while respecting its strength.
Pairs well with: Chocolate, caramels with sea salt and warm sweet desserts like crème brûlée.
The Verdict: Grand Madame is a robust barleywine with lots of maltiness and strong hop character. The Munich and caramel malts provide a solid backbone of sweetness that becomes spicy as the bitterness of the Bravo hops emerge. Eventually the inherent sweetness of the barleywine melds with the brandy and woody notes from the barrel aging, lending complexity and bitter spicy depth. I like the brandy barrel aging because it softens the rough sharpness of the hop bitterness. This is a bold barleywine with many layers of flavor. Certainly keep a few bottles to cellar for a more mellow experience.
