Why aren't there more Scotch barrel aged beers?

Pretty much all the spirit-barrel aged beers in the UK are breaking the law. But, the only brewery where the excise have enforced the law seems to be Fullers. Picking up more than a little ABV from the barrel isn't allowed. The first barrel-aged beer Fullers did increased in ABV too much. What they do now is stick Golden Pride into spirit barrels, then water down the result with ESB to keep it around the same ABV.

 

[e="DOTU, post: 2057639, member: 565621"]Speaking in generalities, the peat flavor in most scotch whisky barrels adds a completely different character to beer than the relatively sweeter bourbon profiles. As for the economics, shipping barrels between Scotland and the US happens on a huge scale, but only in the other direction. Glenmorangie distillery in Scotland, for example, tends to employ used Jack Daniels barrels for its whisky. JD uses fresh barrels, ages for 4-6 years and then breaks down the barrels and ships them to Glenmorangie. The reverse direction, for brewery beer aging purposes, would not be on nearly the same scale and would have to be random and one-off. Bourbon barrels are plentiful in the US in comparison.[/quote]
I'm impressed!

 

It's a dark stormy day here with heavy rain and tornado watches and warnings, thunder and lightning in January. Reading all of this really makes me want a neat little spot of Laphroaig before a beer or two. Thanks for the idea!

 

No it doesnt pervade most. Speyside has the most distilleries in Scotland. Most of the really famous companies such as Macallan, Glenfiddich, Glenlivet are from Speyside and do not have a peaty taste.

 

Try to get your hands on the Brandy Barrel 4Elf. It is AMAZING.

 

Thanks for the thread which has inspired me to drink some Green Spot whiskey and some 12 year old Glen Moray. Both would make fine barrels for beery conditioning.

 

AFAKI,
-Speysides like Glenlivet are commonly aged in Sherry Casks, as they're sweeter. Some Highlands like Glenmorangie are too.
-Highlands are most commonly aged in bourbon barrels
-And Islay (Laphroag, Lagavulin) stays in Islay barrels.
So yes, some could be "aged in scotch aged in sherry barrels", which could get confusing Also, I could see wee heavies being delicious in Islay barrels

 

They reuse scotch barrels, not gonna ever be a big thing

 

Okay if you want to get particular: there is a distinct flavor in Islay malts that most describe as "peat." However, peat itself is ill-defined as decomposing vegetation and can be said to be correctly identified any time "earthy" flavors are recognized. I would argue all scotch has earthy flavors, irregardless of region. The smokiness of the highlands, the sweet woodiness of speyside, are both "peaty" elements. This is why, if someone who knew nothing about scotch were to ask "what does scotch taste like?" the short, obviously grossly generalized answer would be "peat," and unless you wanted to give them a prolonged lesson in scotch making regions, this answer would not only suffice, but be quite accurate.

 

ISO Dark Lord aged in Ardbeg Scotch barrels, and a handgun.

 

Well if someone asked what Scotch tasted like, I would tell them that Scotch doesn't have a definintive taste and that there are different types. The reason Islay malts(And others) have peaty flavours is because peat is used in the distilling process. That's what gives it that flavour, I really couldn't ever see anyone describing a Speyside whisky as being peaty. For starters they aren't typically made using peat, and they don't have that flavour. To me that is just innacurate.

 

I would love to see some smoked beers aged in an Islay Scotch. Especially Laphroaig. Or a bacon smoked porter aged in Lagavulin barrels, yes the name must be Ron Swanson.

 

And while we're at it, does anyone know of a beer being aged in an Irish whiskey barrel? Like Old Bushmills or Jameson? or Tullamore Dew? Irish whiskey tends to be lighter than Scotch. Perhaps that characteristic would translate well into a beer. No expert here, just throwing it out.

 

Yeah Innis and Gunn do a beer aged in Irish whiskey casks, though they don't specify which.

 

Thanks for the thread which has inspired me to drink some Green Spot whiskey and some 12 year old Glen Moray. Both would make fine barrels for beery conditioning.

No one seems to know what Irish whiskey was originally stored in those barrels but whatever it was it too failed to weave any magic to make Innes and Gunn anything more than dull. But I do hope more brewers consider the Irish whiskey barrel option. After years of grossly under performing their whiskey industry is starting to get their stick back on the ice.

 

Pretty much all you said is incorrect. As a default answer, if you don't know the source of the barrels, say ex-bourbon. More often than not you'll be correct.
Speyside use sherry barrels because of sweetness? Why would they? What's the rationale?
Glenlivet predominantly use ex-bourbon barrels. Sometimes they also use ex-sherry and ex-port. Glenmorangie use ex-bourbon barrels. It's for their secondary or extra maturation expressions they switch to other sourced barrels, like sherry, port, sauternes.
Islay barrels? What's that? Wood sourced from Islay-grown oak? There is some European oak growing in England, but I'm not sure there is any on Islay. But regardless, Laphroaig use ex-bourbon barrels as a main source. So does Lagavulin. Lagavulin also use ex-sherry ones for some of their expressions.

 

So the limit is not on the actual abv, but on how much it's increased due to "outside influence"?
You say, "picking up more than a little ABV from the barrel isn't allowed", so how much is allowed?

 

I think it's about 0.5% ABV. For some reason the law isn't enforced In Scotland.

 

This!

There is essentially a glut on the market of bourbon barrels, since they have to be virgin when used, and can legally only be used once if the spirit wants to be called bourbon.

Scotch, on the other hand....Scotch distilleries, if I'm not mistaken hold their barrels as sacred as their booze, if I recall correctly.

 

What's the name of that beer?