Eye of Horus Barleywine

Barleywine has long been a style that I've shyed away from. After all, I started kegging so I wouldn't have to bottle any more and let's face it, a barleywine takes some cellar time to become its best. But since it is "The Year of Beer", what the hell.

I added a little rye to the recipe and used a blend of belgian yeasts so it is a little departure from a traditional barleywine. Estimated ABV is between 9-10% and it will be on the lower end of the bitterness scale for the style, but I'm hoping by backing off a little on the hops, the rye will come through a little more.

The idea for name came from a tune by Here Come the Mummies, perhaps the greatest party band in existence. For the label, I sketched the Horus character, scanned it, and re-drew it un Illustrator. The rest of the label was drawn in Illustrator with some finishing work in Photoshop. Since the bottles will be aged for a while and I will be giving some of them away to my Beerspot friends, I put a little more effort into "packaging" by ordering some sealing wax. I think it turned out nice.

The beer itself, is still in the secondary (brewed 2-21-11). It will be bottled in the next couple of weeks. I'll add some pictures of the bottling, labeling and sealing. Cheers.

13 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter
2 lbs Rye Malt
1 lbs Rye, Flaked
1 lbs Special B Malt
2 lbs Light Dry Malt Extract
2.00 oz Centennial
1.00 oz Hallertauer
Belgian Style Ale Yeast Blend (White Labs #WLP575)