Barrel Aged

How About Some Barrel Aged Hibernation?

Another brewery with a great barrel aging program – Great Divide Brewing.  Hibernation is GD’s seasonal old ale.  Throw it into some soon-to-be hard to come by Stranahan’s whiskey barrels, and you have a rare treat.

Over 9 months in Stranahan’s Continue Reading →

Deschutes Abyss, 3 Weeks

In week full of hard to find beers, Deschutes Brewing tweeted that they will be releasing The Abyss in about 3 weeks.

The Abyss is an imperial stout brewed with black strap molasses, licorice, cherry bark and vanilla.  6% aged in oak Continue Reading →

White Birch Barrel Aged Indomitus

White Birch Brewing Barrel Aged Indomitus Ale.

Style: American Wild Ale
Bottled: 8/16/11

Availability: 16.9 oz bottles. 12o bottle run.

8.2% ABV 

 

Leinenkugel Building A Barrel Aging Program

Leinenkugel is experimenting with a barrel aging program.  The first experiments have been with Big Eddy Imperial Stout.  Eddy has spent time in bourbon and rye bourbon barrels.  Here’s the kicker, these releases don’t really exist.  Well, they Continue Reading →

Posted in Hair Of The Dog Brewing, New Releases, Seasonal Return

Adam From The Wood, Doggy Claws, Bourbon Fred, 11/12

Per Alan Sprints of Hair Of The Dog Brewing (Portland, OR) will have a few releases hit on 11/12/11.

Doggie Claws – Barleywine, 11.5%.  Doggie Claws is lush and tasty, nice carbonation and a firm bitterness. It will be $5 a bottle, $95 a case.

Bourbon Fred from the Wood – American Strong Ale 11.5%.  A bit of a disappointment because of the carbonation level, which is low, even by my standards. The Beer is still delicious, smooth and rich with a great bourbon flavor. It may self carbonate in the future, or maybe not. It will be $7 a bottle, $140 a case.

Adam from the Wood –  Old Ale, 10%.  Like no other, and should make you smile, he will be $15 a bottle, limit 24.

Hair Of The Dog was founded in November of 1993.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Coming Soon, Great Divide

How About Some Barrel Aged Hibernation?

Great Divide Barrel Aged HibernationAnother brewery with a great barrel aging program – Great Divide Brewing.  Hibernation is GD’s seasonal old ale.  Throw it into some soon-to-be hard to come by Stranahan’s whiskey barrels, and you have a rare treat.

Over 9 months in Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey Barrels has completely transformed our prized winter seasonal, producing a Hibernation that starts with big whiskey flavors before mellowing out into luscious chocolate, dark fruit and vanilla.  Each limited edition bottle is individually numbered, making it a special edition to your cellar.  If you can only take one beer into your cave this winter, we strongly suggest this one.  

Style: Old Ale
Availability: 75oml bottles. Hand numbered. Limited distribution.

12.4% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Seasonal Return, Wild Heaven Craft Beers

Wild Heaven Winter Returns In November

Wild Heaven will be releasing Ode To Mercy Special Winter Ale again in November.  Eric Johnson took Ode To Mercy, and added bourbon soaked oak chips.  The result is a winter beer with oak, vanilla, coffee, with a semi sweet finish.  The flavor definitely gets more complex as it warms.

Style: American Brown Ale (bourbon oak chips)

Availability: Draft only.

8.2% ABV

Also, more Eschaton, their new wine oak Quad arrive in November also.  Expect 12oz bottles beginning of 2012.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Deschutes Brewing, Seasonal Return

Deschutes Abyss, 3 Weeks

In week full of hard to find beers, Deschutes Brewing tweeted that they will be releasing The Abyss in about 3 weeks.

The Abyss is an imperial stout brewed with black strap molasses, licorice, cherry bark and vanilla.  6% aged in oak bourbon, 11% aged in virgin oak, 11% aged in oak wine.   Another Top 100 Beers On Planet Earth according to BeerAdvocate.com (Based on user ratings.)

It’s dark. It’s deep. It’s mysterious.  This imperial stout has immeasurable depth inviting you to explore and discover its rich complex profile.  The flavor of this special brew draws you in further and further with each sip.  The Abyss beckons.  Enjoy the journey.

Availability: 22oz bombers, Draft

11% ABV

[Check out the geek speak at BA]

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Seasonal Return, The Bruery, Videos

VID: Black Tuesday. (On Sale In Less Than An Hour)

The Bruery’s Black Tuesday. Ranked among the Top 100 in the world. Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels.  On sale online today at 10am PST. (1 pm EST)

The beer has a trailer. Rated: T (Tasty).  Contains graphic images of barrel aged beer. Drinking advised.

The Bruery // Black Tuesday from Redtail Media on Vimeo.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in New Releases, White Birch Brewing

White Birch Barrel Aged Indomitus

White Birch Barrel Aged IndomitusWhite Birch Brewing Barrel Aged Indomitus Ale.

Style: American Wild Ale
Bottled: 8/16/11

Availability: 16.9 oz bottles. 12o bottle run.

8.2% ABV 

 

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer News, Coming Soon, Leinenkugel's Brewing

Leinenkugel Building A Barrel Aging Program

Leinies Barrel Aged Big Eddy Leinenkugel is experimenting with a barrel aging program.  The first experiments have been with Big Eddy Imperial Stout.  Eddy has spent time in bourbon and rye bourbon barrels.  Here’s the kicker, these releases don’t really exist.  Well, they do – but they don’t.  These little 7 oz bottles are just testers.  The brewers at Lenie’s took the first release of Big Eddy (2010) and aged it in (2) Heaven Hill for a full year.  The flavor of this beer is incredible.  (More on that in a minute.)

Also on the way are 2 NEW beers from Leinie’s:

Wee Heavy Scotch Ale. New style for Lenies.  2012 will see the release to 30 key accounts.  There will also be a barrel side project for Wee Heavy.  More rye bourbon & bourbon.

IPA.  The brewery has been itching to release a hoppy offering.  April 2012 will see this release.

There are other styles in development, and Leinenkugel’s expands their lineup.

So where does this leave the barrel aging?  First public release is about 2 years away.  It will take time for the brewery to build up a barrel inventory to move forward with the program.

How does it taste? Lovers of barrel aged beers should already start drooling over this release.  Caramel, Raisins, vanilla, molasses, rye & oak.  I found myself trying to get the last drops out of the bottle (I had to share 7ozs!)  2 years is too long to wait for more.

Below are pics of of the barrels at Lenies

Big Eddy and it’s Barrel Aged sibling

 

 

 

by Reid Ramsay