The Right Place and Time for a Barleywine

Posted by: Tyler Rippeteau

Oct. 26, 2011

As I mentioned at the beginning of The Barleywine Project, this one was going to be tough.  Of the 20 beers I have to review for this project, only one of them is available year-round...and it happens to be the one brewed a ten-minute bike ride away from my apartment.  The other 19 are seasonal or rotating.  On top of that, many are not available here in Colorado so I will either need to travel or trade for them.

Since I do not have the money to travel for a specific beer, but I do plan to do some traveling in the near future (Portland this coming weekend and Chicago for Thanksgiving and Christmas), I put together a spreadsheet to help me track down where and when all 20 beers on the list will be available.  I also figured that this might be a useful tool to any of you who are Barleywine fans out there - especially those of you who live in Mississippi, who have access to none of these beers.  Puerto Ricans and Utahans (ites maybe?) may also want to take note for when you travel.

BARLEYWINE	SEASON/DATE	AVAILABILITY
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale	Winter	Available in All 50 States
Victory Old Horizontal	Dec. - Jan.	AK, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, ME, MD, MA, MN, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX (Limited), VT, VA, WA, WI, DC
Great Divide Old Ruffian Barley Wine	December	AL, AK, AR, CA, CO, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, MD, MA, MN, MO, NE, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA (Limited - Southern VA), WA, DC
Bell's Third Coast Ale	Winter	AL, AZ, FL, GA, IL, IN, IA, KY, MI, MN, MO, NC, ND, OH, PA, PR, SC, VA, WI, DC
Dogfish Head Olde School Barleywine	October	AK, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, KY, ME, MD, MA, MI, MT, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, SC (Limited), TX (Limited), VT, VA, WA, DC
Avery Hog Heavan Barleywine	Year Round	AL, AK, AR (Limited - Western AR), CA (Limited - Southern CA), CO, FL (Limited), GA, ID, IL, IA, KS, KY (Limited), MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, NV (Limited), NJ, NY (Limited - NYC Only), NC, ND, OH, OR, PA, SC, SD, TX, VA, WA, WI (Limitied), WY (Limited)
Rogue XS Old Crestacean	Rotating	All 50 States, Limited in Wyoming
Lagunitas Olde Gnarlywine	January	AK, AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, ID, IL, KS, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NV, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, TX, VA, WA, WI, WY, DC
Troegs Flying Mouflan	Spring	DE, MD, MA, NJ, NY, OH, PA, VA, DC
Founders Nemesis 2010	Brewed Once	No Longer Available
Southern Tier Backburner (Imperial Barley Wine Style Ale)	February	AK, CT, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KY, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, NJ, NY, NC, ND, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, VA, WA, WI, VT
Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws	Fall	CA, IN (Limitied), NY (NYC Only), OR, PA (Limited), WA
Three Floyds Behemoth Blonde Barleywine	January	IL (Limited - Chicago), IN, KY (Limited), OH (Limited), WI
Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary - Ken and Jack's Ale	Brewed Once	Available in All 50 States
AleSmith Old Numbskull	Rotating	AZ, CA, MA, NY, OH, OR, PA (Limited),
Green Flash Barleywine Style Ale	Rotating	AZ, CA, CO, IL, MD, MA, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, RI, TX, VA, WA, DC
Smuttynose Barleywine Style Ale (Big Beer Series)	Winter	CT, DE, FL, GA, IL, ME, MD, MA, MI (Limited), NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, PA, RI, SC, VT, VA, WI, DC
Mad River John Barleycorn Barleywine Ale	Winter	AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, MN, NC, NJ, NM, NY, NV, OK, OR, PA, VA, WA
Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Barleywine	Rotating	IL (Limited), MN, PA, WI
Full Sail Old Boardhead Barleywine Ale	Rotating	AK, AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, ID, LA, MD, MA, MN, MT, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OK, OR, RI, SC, TX, UT, VA, WA, WY, DC

To give credit where it is due, I used as much information as I could from each of the brewery's websites.  Sometimes they had a specific month or time of year that the beer would be released, sometimes I was able to figure out their distribution on the websites as well.  For those that did not have the info I needed, I turned to an outstanding document that a Beer Advocate user created last year which details most major brewery's distribution throughout the US.  I am sure that some of the information above is or will become outdated, but hopefully it can help a few Barleywine lovers out.