Topic Archives: Oak Aged
Creature Comforts River Ridge Red re-emerges from barrels this month
Creature Comforts River Ridge Red returns in late July.
When you combine Virginia’s River Ridge Organics raspberries, Creature Comfort’s oak barrels and talent, and you have a wild ale made for summer.
Creature chose some of their best barrels to blend onto the fresh raspberries, punching down the fruit into the barrels for a full two weeks. After that, the raspberries soaked in the ale for another six months in oak, until the brewery achieved a balanced acid profile.
“We believe River Ridge Organics grows some of the finest berries you will find in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and that inspired us to create a beer in celebration of their beautiful crop.” – Wood Cellar and Mixed Fermentation Director Blake Tyers. “
Creature Comforts River Ridge Red first debuted in 2019. It will be available in 500-milliliter bottles at the brewery when it opens on July 23rd.
Style: American Wild Ale (w/ Raspberries. Oak Aged.)
Availability: 500ml Bottles
Debut: 6/15/19
Latest Return: 7/23/21
6.6% ABV
Image: Creature Comforts
Creature Comforts ‘Well, I Declare’ coming in March
Creature Comforts Well, I Declare debuts in March.
The base beer for this upcoming release is an imperial stout, brewed with toasted pecans, cocoa nibs, and aged on American oak spirals. Creature Comforts really wanted to showcase the pecan crop from Fort Valley, Georgia based Pearson Farm.
The cocoa nibs are sourced from Condor Chocolates in the brewery’s hometown of Athens.
500-milliliter bottles of Creature Comforts Well, I Declare will be available at the brewery on March 14th.
Style: Imperial Stout (w/ Toasted Pecans, Cocoa Nibs. Aged on Oak Spirals)
Availability: 500ml Bottles. Brewery Only.
Debut: 3/14/20
12% ABV
The Rare Barrel & Perennial Artisan create ‘West of the Mississippi’
The Rare Barrel West of the Mississippi debuts at the brewery on August 22nd.
This new oak-aged golden sour is a collaboration with St. Louis-based Perennial Artisan Ales. The team selected a blend of unique barrels, ranging from open-fermented saisons, to various dry-hopped Brettanomyces beers.
The blended base was then dosed with black lime (dried lime, that has lost most of it’s water content).
This yielded an incredibly unique brew with an almost earthy depth of flavor that complements the notes of passion fruit, papaya, and limeade.
The Rare Barrel West of the Mississippi will be available in the brewery’s tasting room in 750-milliliter bottles on August 22nd.
Style: American Wild Ale (w/ Black Limes. Oak Aged.)
Availability: 750ml Bottles. Limited Release.
Debut: 8/22/19
6.2% ABV
Image: The Rare Barrel
Westbrook Le Ciel
Westbrook Le Ciel
Firestone Walker & England’s Wild Beer Company create ‘Violet Underground’
Firestone Walker Violet Underground, a cross-Atlantic ocean collaboration, debuts this week. Part of the brewery’s Barrelworks Program.
Jim Crooks, Firestone’s medal-winning master blender is good friends with Brett Ellis, co-founder, and brewer at England’s Wild Beer Company.
Dissecting this beer yeast first – Ellis sent Crooks some Wild Beer’s native yeast. Crooks then fermented two base beers. One with Barrelworks yeast and California golden raspberries, and the other with Wild Beer’s English funk. Both bases were aged in French oak between 6 months and a year. French candied violet petals were added to a handful of barrels. The result? Something Crooks calls a “head trip”.
“Violet Underground is an intentional head trip. It’s golden in color yet smells like raspberries, offering a bunch of unexpected sensory notes that all come together in the glass.”
The beer name is presumably a play on the 60’s rock band Velvet Underground, that once had Lou Reed.
Firestone Walker Violet Underground is the second packaged release in 2019, available in 375-ml bottles and draft
Style: American Wild Ale (w/ Golden Raspberries. Violet Petals. French Oak Aged.)
Availability: 375ml Bottles. Draft. Limited Release.
Debut: Early June 2019
Pineapple, mango, guava Hi-Wire Tropical Sour this weekend
Hi-Wire Tropical Sour debuts at the brewery’s South Slope location in Asheville, North Carolina this weekend.
The wild ale program at Hi-Wire has constantly impressed us at Beer Street Journal. This new release is a “tropical” inspired oak-aged American wild ale, aged on fresh mango, pineapple, and guava.
Hi-Wire Tropical Sour will only be available in 750-milliliter bottles with no distribution at the brewery this weekend.
Style: American Wild Ale (w/ Pineapple. Mango. Guava.)
Availability: 750ml Bottles. Brewery Only.
Debut: 4/20/19
?? ABV
Three Taverns Voyage kicks off a new “Wooden Vat” Series
Three Taverns Voyage, a new open fermented mixed culture saison, debuts today.
This unique release is a mixed culture saison, which uses Three Tavern’s house saison yeast, Georgia-grown wheat, and North Carolina rye. Voyage is the first in a series of ‘Wooden Vat’ releases by the Decatur, Georgia based brewery.
No, this isn’t fermented in steel. Three Taverns Voyage is open-fermented in oak. Old world style.
…Crafted with Georgia grown wheat and NC artisan rye then open fermented in an oak vat with our house saison blend, bright aromas of citrus and pineapple mingle with a bouyant funkiness to create a complex drinking experience.
Those with the appreciation of funky, open-fermented, Belgian-style wild ales can seek this at the brewery starting April 5th.
Style: American Wild Ale (Oak Aged)
Availability: 12.7oz Bottles. Limited Release.
Debut: 4/5/19
6% ABV
