Barrel Aged Valkyrie
Enegren Brewing Company

 

Served from a cask during the 1st Anniversary party. Reviewed from notes.

A: Pours a reddish brown with a fine off-white head which leaves no lace.

N: Prominent vanilla followed by sweet malts and raisins.

T: Addition of French oak produces smooth tannins and Tahitian vanilla really set this apart from the regular version. Nicely balanced.

M: Rich, creamy, smooth and full.

O: Very good.

 

Oaked vanilla bean Valkyrie on cask. The beer was served from the same cask it was aged in, which they called a "Barrilito"

A: No real head per se, being on cask, just some bubbles around the top. Color is a hazy copper color, same as regular Valkyrie.

S: Strong potent vanilla on the nose initially. Biscuits, light oak, and a touch of caramel & toffee are also present in the aroma.

T: Mirrors the nose, potent vanilla, with very mild oak flavors. Some of the nutty roasted malts are more subdued, with the vanilla dominating as opposed to regular Valkyrie, but they are still there. Just being on cask is also a factor to the flavor differences as well. I am curious if this were force carbed out of keg, what the difference would be.

M: Light clean mouth, medium sweetness, but not sticky. Good cask feel, medium heft to it. Kiss of dryness on the finish.

O: Very good, with Valkyrie as the base. The strongest change is certainly the vanilla beans, since the brewers said they added them directly to the cask. The cask itself was new American oak, so there was no other fusion of flavors. They also did not use any oak spirals or cubes during primary fermentation, so the oak is a faint note. If they had, or if it were aged more than 1 month, that might bring out even more oak, but still impressive given the scale of the brewery, and their 1st commercial attempt at barrel aging.