Oak in a Bottle


Most of us don’t have either the contacts or the space to have a barrel at home and the amount of beer to fill it. Unless you are a home brewer, of course.

Now, with the aptly and simply named Oak Bottle made from ‘Merican White Oak, you can perform ale experiments and without waiting for years. The smaller bomber-esque vessel with the slim shape “accelerates the traditional oak aging process … in a matter of hours not years.”

Right now there is only the one version. No bourbon-barrel or extra charred or anything. But for $79 bucks it is a good entry level for testing out what Oak does to different beers.

Into the Woods

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There have been single hop beers. single yeast, single malt, this year it’s SMASH beers. But maybe this new trend will take off since The Bruery is doing it…..
“The Arbre series is an exploration of barrel toast. We brewed a rich, malty imperial stout and divided it into three parts, laying each down in brand new American oak barrels from our friends at Kelvin Cooperage in Kentucky. On Friday, bottles of two of these variants – Arbre Light Toast and Arbre Medium Toast – will go on sale to the general public. Arbre Light Toast spent time resting in lightly toasted barrels and reveals notes of oak as well as raisins and just a hint of smoke. Arbre Medium Toast spent time resting in medium toasted barrels and reveals more oak-forward notes in addition to coconut, roasty vanilla beans, bakers chocolate and black cherries.”

That would be quite a tasting.