Chicagoist's "Beer of the Week": Browning's Special Reserve 2006 Ol' Shag Barley Wine

By Chuck Sudo in Food on May 23, 2007 4:00PM

We were cleaning the fridge the other day, taking inventory on our beer stock in preparation for the official start of grilling season this weekend, when we came across a beer that we have completely forgot we bought during the winter. Since it was a Sunday, unseasonably cold outside, and the beer in question was another barley wine, we decided to decant that mother and give it a sip or more.

The beer is from Browning's Brewery, a three-story brewpub and brewery located across from Slugger Field in downtown Louisville, Ky. For you minor league baseball fans, Slugger Field is the home of the Louisville Bats baseball team. Browning's Special Reserve 2006 Ol' Shag Barley Wine is a malty English-style barley wine ale, with shag bark hickory syrup added to the brewing process. The result is a high-gravity beer with considerable punch (ten percent alcohol by volume), sweet malty goodness, and a spice from the syrup, making this beer a complex one that had us revisiting our tasting notes as the chill left for flavors we didn't initially pick up. Ol' Shag poured a deep brown in color, with a fast-dissipating head that left sticky lace rings. The mouthfeel on this beer was thick, almost chewy, which we attributed to the hickory syrup. We also picked up notes of roasted almonds and caramel on the palate. Ol' Shag finished with a dryness and lingering sourness that had us running for the water faucet. This was a damn fine beer, and a revelation, we thought, to Chicago drinkers.

Then we began to have our niggling suspicion as to how the store we bought it from acquired their supply. So we placed a call to Browning's, indicated that we purchased the bottle in Chicago, and were not surprised when the manager of the brewery told us that the beer isn't distributed in Illinois. In fact, outside of the metropolitan Louisville area (which includes southern Indiana), this beer is unavailable anywhere. Legally, that is. And while we were satisfied with the beer, we question the judgment of the store in selling it. After all, contraband is still contraband if you can't acquire it via legal means. We also want more, like any good contraband.

We won't disclose the identity of the store where we purchased Ol' Shag. Instead, we'll recommend a road trip to Louisville, where you can take in a Bats game, snap some cheesy tourist pictures beside the giant Louisville Slugger bat outside the factory, and enjoy a sip or two of Ol' Shag barley wine, Chicagoist's "Beer of the Week."