A few words in praise of barley wine

Barley wine is high-octane beer that has an alcohol content up there in the wine range, hence the name. I however enjoy it for its unique full-bodied flavour.

There’s an article at Beer Advocate here:
beeradvocate.com/articles/299

From Wikipedia:
A barley wine typically reaches an alcohol strength of 8 to 12% by volume and is brewed from specific gravities as high as 1.120. It is called a barley wine because it can be as strong as wine; but since it is made from grain rather than fruit, it is in fact a beer. In the United States, barley wines are required for this reason to be called “barley wine-style ales.” Though this could be taken by some to imply that they are not truly barley wines, in fact it only means that they, like all barley wines, are not truly wines.

Its natural sweetness is usually balanced with a degree of hoppy bitterness, though traditional English barley wines often have far less bitterness than their American counterparts.