>>9290419
Yeah, there are some great experimental beers that come through the tasting room.
From The Oxford Companion to Beer: "barley wine is the strongest of beers and while not always literally approaching the alcohol content of whine, usually surmounts the strength of ales referred to as "strong" and "old", to which they are related. The first beers we now think of as barley wines sprang from the British farmhouse tradition, often as beers brewed from the first runnings (strong worts) of multiple-brew single mashes, which were infused a number of times to yield worts of diminishing strength. This system is know as paratigyle and is still employed in some British breweries. Barley wines are often brewed to alcoholic strengths of 10% ABV, and sometimes more" There's a lot more to this entry.
Porters, stout, or Belgian ales don't use as much barley, at least in my brewing experience. You use some barley to get the reddish tones in darker ales, but you're relying much more heavily on the roasted malts to give color.