by Nate from Whiskywall

Aging beer in a barrel is by no stretch of the imagination a new idea. In the history of beer making, beer has certainly spent a lot more time in wooden barrels than any other container. But not most of the beers we grew up with. More often then not, the beer you saw your dad drinking, that you pilfered from you dad’s stash, or that you actually shared with your dad depending upon your particular situation, was born in a metal receptacle and served in a can. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of quality brews currently out there that have never known the caress of a plank of wood. And cans are on the comeback with good reason. Whether for traditional reasons or wild-eyed experimentation, a large selection of barrel aged beers are increasingly available to those seeking an old/new twist. While Belgian brews have been a reliable source for seekers of barrel aged flavors, an increasing variety of stouts, IPAs, and barley wines continue to find their way into barrels. The flavor combinations may not be infinite, but they are far beyond my lackluster mathematical skills. The variety of beer, the type of wood, the previous contents of the barrel, and anything you might choose to dump in the barrel with the beer create seemingly endless possibilities. This fact would have been a great excuse for sampling every barrel aged concoction I could lay my hands on for the purposes of this article but reason and budgetary constraints prevailed.

There have been some memorable barrel aged beers in recent times. Stone’s Magnum of Oaked Arrogant Bastard has a place on my mantelpiece. Remembering accidentally stumbling upon a tasting Deschutes’ Abyss still brings me pleasure. The idea to put North Coast’s Old Rasputin Stout in a bourbon barrel blew my mind. I reveled in it, shared it with friends and savored the complex marriage of bourbon notes with a solid stout, the traces of vanilla and oak. A deliciously ignoble end, the last of my stash fueled a 2:00 AM Mario Kart marathon. Raising many a glass of Black Xantus and Firestone Walker’s 13 at Toronado’s release party is a hazy but precious memory. Two complex brews where barrels played no small role… and the world was a better place for it. But enough of memory lane. This week a clinical, if not bloodshot, set of eyes turned to some barrel aged items currently on the shelf and readily available: Allagash’s Interlude, Russian River’s Supplication, and Marin Brewing Company’s Old Dipsea Barleywine (aged in bourbon barrels).

The Allagash we tried was a Belgian aged in oak barrels. However, the night was off to a slightly rough start when we filled some glasses with Allagash at an unfortunately low temperature. Luckily, when revisited it some time later, the brew had had an opportunity to thaw out and open up. We saw the error of our ways were able to better appreciate Interlude. The pleasant Belgian notes and airy yeasty quality balanced well on subtle oak flavors. A well-balanced pleasing brew. Russian River’s Supplication, a brown sour ale, followed. No spring chickens in the art of barrel aged beers, Russian Rivier’s Supplication has some cherries thrown in to further enhance the flavor possibilities, and that it does. The sour cherry notes, brown ale, and wine-wood notes blended well but held each other at arms length so you could appreciate the flavors in turn. And they were worth appreciating. I like bourbon. I like bourbon barrels… and often love the beer that comes out of them even after a brief stint. Old Dipsea did not disappoint. While it is not one of my favorite barley wines, it makes one hell of a barrel aged beer. The bourbon, brown sugar, and wood notes were myriad and tasty. A slightly viscous quality to the brew drew things together both enhancing mouth feel and imparting a chewy dimension to the dangerously smooth and flavorful beer. The sugars of the barley wine were thick and present without being syrupy or cloying.

Hopefully the trend of bringing barrel aging out of the more obscure corners will continue. Hopefully the experimentation will increase. Hopefully I will find a place in my house to hide a few bottles of it that I can’t find for a year or two… and then we can talk about some serious post-barrel bottle conditioning.