Weekly Beer Focus - Barrel Aged Brews (1/28-2/5)

Its been a while but it is time to kick off the new year with another focus. The next theme is not a style per say but more of a treatment. There are many breweries that like to put special batches into wood barrels for aging or to put special characters into the beer. Often the barrels are used from other beverage makings like spirits or wine. Lets locate some of these and see what we think.

Again, no style requested. Let’s just go for beers that have some sort of barrel treatment indicated by the brewery.

It might also be nice where possible to compare a barrel treated example with the same brew having not seen wood. That could help us be clearer on what exactly the barrel aging does to the character of beer.

Line 'em up and knock 'em down! [cheers.gif]

A good example of that is Great Divide Yeti Stout and the oak aged version.

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And hopping frog b.o.r.i.s the crusher comes both ways

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Cigar City makes a regular and oaked version of their IPA — the difference is noticeable

same goes with the Stone - Arrogant Bastard and Stone - Oaked Arrogant Bastard.

looks like my boulevard bbq is getting popped. o darn [cheers.gif]

I will have to dig into my memory for a note from this one I drank on my recent trip to MI. I’ve never had a wheatwine before, which seemed like a cross between a Hefe and a barleywine. But then add the bourbon barrel aging, and YUM!

I plan on popping this: 2010 Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien Malt Grand Cru Rhum Oak Barrel (Switzerland)

Grabbed an Ellicott Brewing Company (EBC) St. Jacob’s Imperial Oak Aged Stout in growler today. Dark brown, almost black with a beautiful tan head. Nose is loaded with dark chocolate and burnt white toast. There is a sweetness in the nose, too. Palate is like the nose, with plenty of dark chocolate. The beer is smooth in the mouth, so much so that one may not realize it’s an imperial stout. Long, rich finish. 9% ABV is nearly undetectable. Delicious. Very limited release; first time brewed by EBC.

I’m gonna hit my local DeCicco’s and find a bourbon aged beer as well.

This is such a broad category but I am looking forward to it. Starting early but this one’s a winner:

Tart of Darkness - The Bruery

A sour stout aged in oak barrels. I’m not a big stout guy but I love this one. The coffee/roasted notes are WAY in the background leaving the tart, fruity notes to dominate. In a blind test I doubt I would even peg it as a stout base. The oak is fairly subtle but seems like it really pulls it all together. Fairly dry finish and good carbonation. I’ve had this one before so it was no surprise but this is top notch. I drank the whole 750ml myself (5.6%) no problem.

Welcome Buffalou! This sounds terrific. Where is Ellicott based out of?

Man, I’m slackin’.

I wasn’t sure what to do with this week. I have an Older Viscosity, but wanted to do a side by side with Old Viscosity and can’t find one right now. I was going to do a Bruery Cuir, but not 100% barrel aged. I think I’ll do a 2009 Bourbon County and a Firestone 15th anniversary.


Brett, for some reason I thought you were a Stout guy.

Thank you. It is!

EBC is in Ellicottville, NY. It’s about an hour South of Buffalo. (“Ski country” - Holiday Valley is in Ellicottville.)

BTW, I love the weekly themes for beer. Just getting into different beers over the past few months. Thank you for the themes!

That sounds really interesting. The idea of a sour stout sounds kinda gross to me, but reading what you wrote about the roasted/coffee being way in the background has me imagining really good things about this beer. I suppose this is one of their numerous one-offs, and I’ll never get to try it, huh? [head-bang.gif]

Yeah, don’t be afraid of the sour stout. I’ve had some bad ones, but there are definitely some winners out there.

As for a one-off, this beer came and went pretty quickly but I was at their barrel house a while back and saw a bunch of barrels of it so I’m assuming another release is on the horizon. Of course, if you ever come back out to LA again I’d gladly share one of my remaining bottles with you. I wish I had more than two cause then I’d just give you one.

Rodenbach Flemish Red/Brown Ale- 75% Young beer 25% aged in oak vats.

750 into tulips. Opaque brown. Not something aesthetically pleasing to the eye, but a ice off white head which retains and laces beautifully. This is sour ale, and I can’t say honestly if the oak barrels make a huge difference from other Flemish sours. Notable Brett, tart fruity flavors, medium bodied and earthy, vegetal notes. Certainly not as vegetal as something like Duchesse de Bourgogne, but a nice drinking sour. Not sure how valuable this is to the focus, but it qualifies, so here it is.

Schooner Exact Hoppy the Woodsman Bourbon Barrel Aged

American strong ale from the tap. Drank from a tulip. Beautiful mahogany with a pretty off white head. Smoky aromatics which show the bourbon aspects beautifully. Medium to full bodied, lots of figgy flavors with a definite bourbon/smoke component. To the name of this beer, serious hops are present and the hoppy flavors and the barrel components are in dischord. Nice one, but it needs more distinction to show the value of the barrel age.

Oh, I’m coming back! I would love to take you up on your kind offer to share, but making your offer come to fruition will be an exercise in patience on your part, as my return is still more than two years away! [cheers.gif]

Firestone 15th Anniversary Ale 12.50% abv

Here’s the breakdown of the blend:
Helldorado 18%
Sticky Monkey 17%
Bravo 17%
Double Double barrel Ale 13%
Good Foot 11%
Velvet Merkin 10%
Parabola 9%
Double Jack 5%

Blend done by Local Paso winemakers including: Justin Smith of Saxum, Matt Trevison of Linne Calodo, Eric Jensen of Booker, Terry Hoage of Hoage cellars, Russell From of Herman Story.

Really quite balanced with so many beers blended into this. Predominant flavors were that of Barley
wine, although you can really pick up on every style included. Nice toffee, dark fruit, tropical sweetness, and vanilla. Pretty sticky sweet initially, but more of a medium weight frame that finishes dry from what I guess would be the hops from the double Jack. Barrel treatment seems more brandy than bourbon and is well integrated.

Firestone/Walker is imho one of the absolute champions of barrel aging and have been at it for a lot of years. Nice beer that I wish I had a couple more of to age.

That was my first thought. But they nailed it with this. When the Bruery gets a sour right, they easily compete with RRB.

J