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.

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.

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?

Bring the Thunder

Rogue-Rolling-Thunder
Barrel-Aged can mean different things. A beer can be in contact with an over used barrel or the barrel’s history might be obscured. Some breweries have barrel experts and others don’t. But if you buy Rolling Thunder from Rogue Ales, you will know that the chain of custody was one entity, Rogue.

Now I don’t get excited by the Voodoo Doughnut beers or Beard Beers but I like the fact that this barrel beer is completely executed by Rogue alone.

Check out the timeline:

From Barrel
“Rogue acquired vintage French WW II era coopering equipment before knowing where to put it and who was going to make the barrels. Longtime employee Nate Lindquist volunteered to be Rogue’s first cooper and spent a year as an apprentice learning the ancient art form of barrel making. Using Oregon White Oak, Nate assembles, raises, toasts, chars, hoops, heads, hoops again, cauterizes, sands and brands each barrel, one at a time all by hand. At full capacity, he makes one barrel a day.”

To Distillery
“The barrels are soaked first with Dead Guy Whiskey, which is distilled from Dead Guy Ale. During a year of aging, the Dead Guy Whiskey imparts its flavor into the oak, getting the barrels ready for the next step in the journey.”

To Brewery
“Eight different types of grains, including oats and Rogue Farms barley are brewed with Rogue Farms hops, brown sugar, sweet dark cherries, vanilla and chocolate to create a bold character that is perfect for aging. The Rolling Thunder barrels that once held Dead Guy Whiskey are filled with Rolling Thunder Imperial Stout and aged in the rich, salty air of Yaquina Bay on the Oregon Coast. After six months in the barrels, the beer is ready for the final step.”

To Bottle
“To complete the journey of barrel to bottle, the imperial stout is poured into 1-liter bottles to be bottle conditioned for another few weeks before being released. Rolling Thunder Imperial Stout can be enjoyed immediately or can be cellared for years to come.”

Divine

The_Divine_01
My favorite and (I think) lucky number is 9. So when I saw the label for the latest anniversary beer from Double Mountain Brewery of Hood River, I knew that I would have to search it out. The Divine is “a bourbon-barrel aged brown ale of ethereal character. The strong brown ale base brew left to meditate in Woodford Reserve bourbon barrels for the better part of a year. The celestial slumber brought forth wondrous flavors and aromas of wooden vanilla, toffee, caramel, black licorice, and dark fruit, accompanied by a pleasant bourbon warmth.”

Barreled Wheat

You will be seeing some Portland-centric posts this month. I am getting amped up for a trip to the NW later this month and looking at what I can spend my limited time on while up north.

Then I saw this aged beer might be available for me…..
Capture
Full Sail’s latest beer from the Brewmaster Reserve Series – Bourbon Barrel Aged Wheatwine Ale, available now.

Part of a batch of wheatwine that was brewed with wheat and caramelized wheat malt was “racked … into Wild Turkey Bourbon barrels, and let it rest for a year in our cellar…”

Sounds so warming.

Which Abyss?

Capture
Better stay on the “Nice” list this year because Deschutes Brewing has three different versions of the Abyss maturing for the cellar geeks in the crowd. There will be the usual Imperial Stout version but this year flanking it will be a Rye Whiskey barrel aged version on one side and a Cognac barrel aged version on the other.

Hop to It, Jack

untitled

To start, anybody that puts the word surreptitious on a beer label gets a kudo.  After that, I am on the fence.  How will the hops vs. Jack battle end?  Or will they work together?  At that ABV, I have a feeling it might be more barrel than hop from noted hop heads Knee Deep.

A new Honorific

Screen Shot 2015-08-02 at 12.24.57 PM Anchor Brewing is paying tribute to Fritz Maytag on the labels for their Barrel Ale and they are also paying tribute to their own distilling efforts as well since this beer is aged in their own Anchor Distilling Old Potrero Rye Whiskey barrels as well as on their staves.  You will see this beer on draft and in 12 oz bottles in the future.