Winter days and nights call for strong, rich ales, boozy and warming, and one of the styles I suggest is barley wine. For these last chill days of winter, let’s explore this poetically named beverage.

Barley wine has roots in the strong old ales of England.

Modern takes on the old ale style generally refer to moderate strength, malty beers that may exhibit a bit of vinous, sherry-like qualities.

In 18th and 19th century England, the name literally meant an aged, sometimes stale, ale. Such beers were brewed strong and tended to develop acidic, wild yeast inflected flavors, having been stored in barrels for a year or more.

The term barley wine was first used by the Bass brewery in the early 1870s as a marketing term for its strongest beer, No. 1. It was otherwise categorically identical to an old ale.

For a time, Bass was the only brewery calling its beer barley wine, but eventually the term caught on.

It wasn’t until after the world wars that barley wine became a distinct style, maintaining its strength even as other styles, old ale included, weakened over time.

Typically ranging in strength from 8 to 12 percent alcohol by volume, the hallmark of the style is intense malty richness and full body.

It’s a sipping beer, and you’ll often find flavors of caramel, toffee, dark fruits, molasses and candied nuts, as well as boozy and warming notes of alcohol. Not surprisingly, American brewers have added their own twist to the original style.

English barley wines focus on rich, darker malt flavors with soft, spicy, marmalade-like hops; American versions emphasize the hop bitterness throughout and tend to be lighter in color.

It’s a style that ages well, and older vintages may develop some oxidation and sherry-like character, which can be a welcome addition.

It also marries well with wood, and it’s not uncommon to find versions aged in used spirit or wine barrels.

California’s Anchor Brewing Co. introduced the first barley wine to America in 1975, with its Old Foghorn Ale.

Available year-round, this is an excellent introductory beer to the style, straddling the line between English and American influences with rich malts and Cascade hops.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. introduced the first definitive American-style barley wine with its Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale in 1983.

This one is a perennial favorite of mine, lusciously strong and hop-forward with a pronounced yet balanced bitterness.

The Beer Judge Certification Program guidelines contain an anecdote about Bigfoot to illustrate the hop character in the style: “The story goes that when Sierra Nevada first sent Bigfoot out for lab analysis, the lab called and said, ‘your barley wine is too bitter’ — to which Sierra Nevada replied, ‘thank you.’”

— Jon Abernathy is a Bend beer blogger and brew aficionado.