Winter is Coming. And That Means J.W. Lee’s Harvest Ale.

Beer geeks tend to love their barleywines, and there is no barleywine finer that the J.W. Lee’s Harvest Ale, which is released every year on (or about) 1 December. Imagine my delight when Beer Table tweeted yesterday that the Harvest Ale was on tap! Naturally, Martha and I made plans to meet there after work yesterday evening. I went back again today to enjoy more of the Harvest Ale while writing college recommendation letters.

If you’ve never had JW Lees Harvest Ale, then I strongly urge you to drop whatever it is you are doing, go directly to your nearest quality beer retailer, and get yourself a bottle. This is more or less the gold standard for barleywines — so low in carbonation it’s pretty much still, full of powerful sweet malt aromas, and rich in flavors of toasted malt, an earthy, almost vegetal English hop character, and a slight oakiness.

Apparently this beer causes all production to grind to a halt at JW Lee’s for one day a year, as they mash in the massive amounts of Maris Otter malts destined to meet a healthy dose of East Kent Goldings hops in the boil. I’ve heard that the staff at the brewery is less than thrilled about making this beer each year, but I am thankful they make the necessary sacrifices. Few things make me welcome the arrival of winter like news of a new batch of the Harvest Ale.