Tag: barrel aged

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Featured Review – Thanks for the Invite from Sanctum Brewing Co.


14%. That is explained by aging a strong ale in Heaven Hill bourbon barrels for over 6 months. I haven’t had much from Sanctum Brewing Co. but thought this big beer would be a good re-introduction. And yeah, it has the typical and really nice bourbon aroma. I get coconut and wood and a bit of spirited heat to it. But the taste falls flat after that. The beer is reddish/brown with an expected thin head. The taste is sweet without going too overboard but then nothing else. That sweetness sticks and then there is a slight medicinal finish to it. There are supposed to be notes of vanilla, but they have left the bottle without a trace.

Love the name and label design but the beer needs another layer, vanilla may not have done it but might have helped.

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Thanksgiving Cider

2017
If you want to throw a curveball at your craft beer Thanksgiving, you can start by getting some old world style ciders to go along with it. You could start with two ciders from Two Towns and their newly christened Traditions line-up:

CIDRE BOUCHÉ: French Style Keeved Cider – 6.5% ABV
“Inspired by the bittersweet ciders of France, Cidre Bouché is made with an Old World process called keeving. We start with 100% traditional cider apple varieties like Kingston Black, Michelin, Reine des Pommes, Dabinett and Muscat de Lense, and then let the fruit ‘sweat’ and intensify in aroma. Next, the apples are crushed and left to soak on the skins before the juice is fermented slowly over the course of a year, and aged in French oak casks. When finished, this keeved cider is rich, thick and brimming with overripe bittersweet apple character. Pairs well with classic French fare— think savory crepes, pork terrine, camembert and blue cheese.”

RIVERWOOD: New World Brut Cider – 6.3% ABV
“Inspired by sparkling brut champagnes of the past, Riverwood is a contemporary take on a classic. Slow fermentation at cold temperatures allows the intense passionfruit-like aroma of freshly picked and pressed Jonagold and Porter’s Perfection apples to flourish. Dry, bright, and floral, this New World cider brings the brut style out of the past and into the present. Pairs well with lobster mushroom risotto, butternut squash ravioli in sage brown butter, asparagus with lemon aioli and Moroccan chicken with dates and braised greens.”

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XX-20

xx-anniversary-ale
Fun Fact: This year’s Firestone Walker Anniversary XX barrel-aged beer is really only the 10 version of the beer. The tradition started with their 10th anniversary beer and has only grown in esteem and blending talent and barrels. So many, many barrels.

It took the competitive wine juices of 17 winemakers who gathered back in August to create this years blend. Scott Hawley of Torrin Vineyard was declared the winner and his blend serves as the base for XX which is broken down from (5) beers and 250 oak barrels!

Parabola –Russian Imperial Oatmeal Stout / Aged in New Oak and Bourbon Barrels / 40% of Final Blend
Stickee Monkee –Central Coast Quad Brewed with Belgian Candi and Mexican Turbinado (brown) Sugar/ Aged in Bourbon and Brandy Barrels / 20% of Final Blend
Velvet Merkin –Traditional Oatmeal Stout / Aged in Bourbon Barrels / 17.5% of Final Blend
Bravo –Imperial Brown Ale/ Aged in Bourbon Barrels / 12.5% of Final Blend
Helldorado –Blonde Barleywine / Aged in Bourbon Barrels / 10% of Final Blend

Another Fun Fact:
X was sold for $9.99 per 22-ounce bottle and it was considered a really high price, this year bottles will start at $23.99 and be more than worth it.

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Played Out

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Ohana Brewing will soon be releasing one of their biggest beers to date when their barrel-aged Imperial Stout, To Play Us Out hits store shelves. Releasing a 12.4% ABV stout now is probably the right play as we actually/hopefully fall into autumn.

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Can Aged?

oskar-blues-barrel-aged-ten-fidy
I would much prefer this Colorado release from Oskar Blues to be in 10oz cans considering it is 10%+ but I do like the Stovepipe can look of the new Barrel-Aged Ten Fidy that will be coming out next month to your favorite beer retailer in a shade over 19 ounces.

The Imperial Stout is aged in what is described as “a mix of (different) brands” of bourbon barrels for months before getting canned into their final, smaller containers.

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Ponder It

The-Bruery-Rueminator
Coming out with a dopplebock in this day and age of hops might be a hard sell, but put a Patrick Rue pun in the name and age it in oak barrels and you have yourself a fall beer that people just might pick up.

Would be a good experiment to pick up a classic German version of dopplebock and see how it compares and contrasts to The Bruery’s Orange County interpretation.

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In Flux

Allagash-Fluxus-2016
The annual release of Fluxus from Allagash Brewing had sorta fallen off the radar with the influx of new beers from outside the state but an added ingredient and different barrel-aging has it back on the to-buy list when I see it on shelves. (which should be any day now.)

The 2016 version is a saison that is “brewed with a plethora of Allagash base malt, including barley, rye, and wheat. After a heathy dosing of Noble hops, and ginger root, the beer was then partially aged in gin barrels. The barrels previously held Barr Hill Tom Cat Gin, made by Caledonia Spirits in Hardwick, Vermont.”

There are not enough gin and tequila aged beers out there and even less that start with a Saison. The question is how strong will that ginger be?