Why aren't there more Scotch barrel aged beers?

Not all. But most. Islay has the strongest use of it though. Some Irish whisky is peated.

 

Laphroags good, but I like Lagavulin a little more for Islay
@Joel
Yea I know about the 51%+, and that scotch/whisky does not necessarily mean all-barley whisky, but if someone says they like scotch, they probably have a favorite single malt.
A lot of Canadian whisky is a pretty even blend of corn and rye (and damn good IMO), but it sounds like you might already know! I'm a big fan of ~50:50s like Old Granddad and Rye Turkey

 

Bourbon barrels are plentiful here because by law bourbon must be aged in new oak barrels; any whiskey aged in reused oak barrels cannot be sold as bourbon (unless it was aged in new oak barrels first). Demand is dictated by supply in this case. Bourbon distillers would just be throwing out barrels if they weren't selling them to brewers, or Scotch distillers.

Which touches on something else brought up earlier. A lot of Scotch these days is aged in spent bourbon barrels anyway. So even if the final product doesn't taste anywhere near the same, it's technically possible for a 100% Scotch barrel-aged beer to also be 100% bourbon barrel aged.

Yeah, this was going to be my response to Wayne. Definitely depends on the whiskey. Quite a big difference between a Glenlivet 12 and a Laphroaig 10. I like Laphroaig but I can imagine any beer aged in a Laphroaig barrel being completely wrecked in about 2 weeks and never recovering.

It isn't even necessarily the peat flavor. Lagavulin has more of a pure peat flavor I think. Laphroaig has that saline quality from aging near the ocean, and it's otherwise one of the least refined spirits you can get for the price. Extremely brash, but I like it on occasion.

To be honest, I'm a little apprehensive about trying the cask-strength version....

 

Yes, now that I think of it. Less smoky, more Briny.

Although, I'd like to try a Laphroig barrel aged Gose...

 

There are more (Scotch) malt whisky barrel aged beers being made here (and England) all the time. Nothing like an avalanche but the number is growing.

 

Wee Heavy's

Great Divide Claymore.


Drink. And don't pretend to be Scottish. pricks.


save my soul or see you in hell

 

De Struise Black Mes is Black Albert aged on Coal Ila barrels which is a great beer.

 

Scotch whisky (note the spelling ; whiskey is a generic name) is traditionally aged in used sherry casks though some do use other sources.

 

and all beer is just beer

there are differences in grain/mash bills, processes used on the raw materials like smoking the malt, post aging differences like charcoal mellowing or mellowing over toasted maple, aging in American or French oak barrels and whether or not those barrels are charred. There are also different types of stills that can be used.

 

De Molen, Emelisse, De Struise etc... are all doing wonderful Scotch barrel aged beers

 

Not really, It's the primary flavour of some scotch. Not scotch in general.

 

"Was" traditionally aged in used sherry barrels. That era was ending sometime beginning about the middle of the last century and there are many ex-bourbon barrels on their 2nd or 3rd re-use these days. Even The Macallan has had a major line of non-sherry aged offerings for over 20 years or so.

 

And most (Scotch) whisky barrels today are made from American oak to complete the obvious connection. But Sherry barrels made of European oak probably bring better results. No offense.

 

As a fan of the fine oak series from The Macallan, I'd suggest that their blenders have shown us that a combination from European oak and American oak barrels can bring out the best of both. And personally I have a preference for The Glenlivet in the American oak compared to the French oak.

 

I like both too. The 'better results' reference from my earlier post is what you often hear in Scottish /UK whisky circles but I tend not to differentiate. All in the spirit of experimentation and progress I say.

 

Understood. If you "cut your eye teeth" on sherry aged single malt and always believed it was best....

But sherry aging began as a necessity and new necessities can actually lead to finding new virtues.

So when in the mood for sherry aged, I can find it. If in the mood for port aged, or oak aged, etc. The goal is to find the new virtues rather than bemoan the lack of one that has been replaced or augmented by others.

The last 50 years have been good ones for single malts.

(But I do sometimes regret having finished off my last bottle of one of the Rare Malts series before finding out it's now selling for roughly $1000 US. Think how much more I might have enjoyed it... )

 

This week, I was looking at analysis of a London-brewed Burton from the 1920's. In the flavour column it said "American oak". It was indicating a fault. British brewers avoided American oak because they didn't like the flavour it imparted to beer. They preferred the neutral Memel oak from the Baltic.

 

Ha, reminds me of that bottle of Ardbeg 1977 I drank about ten years ago. But it really was one of the best whisky tasting experiences of my life.

 

If I drank a bottle of whisky I wouldn't be able to rmember eff all about it.

 

Yeah, I can see that being thought of as a flaw. Its not a flavor that goes well with seveal others or gets easily hidden by the others. I think from what I've seen around here that the Glenlivet folks have had much more success with the Frech oak aged than the American oak aged malt whisky as well.