Why aren't there more Scotch barrel aged beers?

Never got to try that one. But I did mange a couple of bottles of the 17 year old they released when starting the distillery back up (they are currently almost as pricey as the 77). Now I suspect that the right beer would age very well in those Ardbeg 17 barrels.

 

Sherry is rather less popular these days, at least in the UK.At one time, when visiting friends you would always be offered a glass.Not now,so perhaps casks are a little rarer these days.

 

Yes the sherry casks are quite a bit harder to come by in the UK than they used to be. Combination of factors at play here, such as the decline in popularity you mention, and the fact that more is being shipped already bottled, more is being shipped elsewhere, etc. That’s why the folks at The Macallan begin their fine oak series.

Similar effects will take place here as the breweries doing bourbon barrel aging now have to content with higher prices for barrels than they used to. When they startedin the the only real competitor for used Bourbon barrels was Scotland (and a few rain barrel suppliers). Now with more and more breweries putting a barrel aging program into effect....

 

Probably because Glenlivet is more a finesse malt whisky I guess.

 

And I remember how cheap Ardbeg was when they resumed larger scale production back in 97/98. Even the 1977 I bought in 2001 was around the £50 mark which was insane for its day. At least that's what my wife said.

 

Schlafly Single Malt Scottish Style Ale was pretty good, I thought. Can still find it around eastern Iowa. And you can't go wrong with The Balvenie scotch.

 

Yeah, I suspect that's a big part of it. The American Oak version has a bit of roughness around the edges of the flavor that not everyone enjoys. In both beers and single malts I find I enjoy most the beverages with multiple flavors all playing nicely with each other but with one or another taking centerstage for a while and them passing the baton on to another for a bit.

 

That price was one of the reasons I passed over a bottle of the 77 when I had a chance at it. Got the two bottles of 17 for about half that. :-)

 

One that is worth trying is Lagavulin Barrel Aged JW Lees Harvest Ale. It is definitely a "love it or hate it" proposition. Lagavulin is a very peaty smoky and assertive Scotch and it really comes through in the beer. If you like peaty smoky scotches, you will love this one.

Scotch is arguably the most assertive of the whiskies, and it might not always translate well into beer aging. It seems to take the balance of the assertiveness of the scotch and the assertiveness of the beer.

As was mentioned up thread, Bourbon is by definition aged in virgin, charred, white oak barrels. (There are a few distillers messing with other woods now, but that has traditionally been the definition.) So, there is always a worldwide surplus of used bourbon barrels. It isnt often talked about, but those barrels end up all over the world, aging other whiskies, and even tequilas, rums, wines, sherries and brandies. The reason scotch barrels end up having such an assertive character is that scotch typically ages much longer than bourbon. Temperature fluctuations have a lot to do with the aging process, and the cooler weather in Scotland as opposed to Kentucky translates to longer aging times.

There are some examples out there, but my (limited) experience is that beer aged in scotch barrels is a hit or miss proposition, and even balanced well, it is not for everyone.

 

It's distinctive, not over powering. I wouldn't think this kind of barrel would mix well with beer though, that I think would be over powering to the base beer. Just like Bourbons are different so are single malts, I would assume they would be terrific in the hands of a skilled brewer, but that's true with anything.

 

American oak, depending on where it's from, can impart a vanillan flavor. Spanish and Australian vintners have long used American oak and American's have preferred French oak. I suppose American oak was cheaper. Missouri used to be the source of lots of American oak, but oak is everywhere for sure.

 

The best single-malt Scotch barrel aged beer I've had was the one Fuller's weren't allowed to sell. Wish I could get hold of a few bottles of that.

 

It must be somewhere if not already consumed by some lucky people

 

Okay, how about: a flavor that pervades most, or even all scotch, and expresses itself as primary especially in Islay malts.

 

Recently tried schlafly's scotch barrel aged scotch ale. Tasted like scotch. I like scotch so it was good. Would drink more of these if given the opportunity

 

My guess is that the the contribution of peat flavor requires a beer posses a very specific base flavor to contribute more than it distracts or muddles. And most beers brewers are producing do not exist in that narrow band.

 

No, whiskEy is not a generic name. It's just different whisk(e)y producing countries, traditionally, use different spelling. In fact, more countries/languages spell it "whisky" over "whiskey". The latter, if I'm not mistaken, only used in US and Ireland, while the former is in Scotland, England, Japan, Canada and pretty much all the other whisky producing countries. Moreover, even in US there are some producers that spell it "whisky", Maker's Mark, George Dickel, for instance.

 

feel free to elaborate

 

I love Lagavulin, it's a great scotch, but JW Lees Lagavulin barrel is an abomination, maybe one of the worst brews I've ever tasted.

 

Ron can fill you in on the specifics of the UK law concerning the bump in ABV from the barrels not being allowed from spirits.
I saw those on the last tour of Fullers that the wife and I did.