Is Oak Aged Enough?

I'd prefer just oak aged over barrel aged. A lot of times the liquor taste can be too much.

 

Oak aged saison is my favorite style right now.. I say yess it is enough

 

I'd like to see barrels made from other woods. How about first use hickory barrels? Ash, Maple, any hardwood really. Maybe some softer woods like Cedar too.

 

I like my beers Beechwood aged.

 

Pre-spirit aged oak enhances all of the flavors that are common with oak aged beers, along with adding additional flavor complexity. Spirit barrel will always win vs new wood. The wood has already had years of mellowing of tannic flavors due to being in contact with spirits for a period of time as well.

 

Cigar City's El Monstruo Lupulo was an amazing DIPA - it was aged on Spanish cedar and spruce, and was one of the best IIPA's I've had. Very different, in a real good way. I just finished my last bottle recently, so if you can track one down I'm betting it would still be worth trying.

 

Cigar City does some awesome beers on cedar, it really creates some fantastic notes/flavors.

 

Definitely. Want more? Go bourbon, whiskey or rum, but oak seems to smooth rather than alter....

 

Tabasco ages their hot sauce in oak barrels, I think. Do y'all know of any brewer that uses these?

 

It works with Arrogant Bastard Ale and Yeti Imperial Stout.

 

White Oak Jai Alai and Great Divide Rumble are two of my favorite easily available oak aged beers. I'd say absolutely, as long as the brewer knows what they're doing.

 

If I am not mistaken, Cedar is poisonous when left for too long....

 

So I feel like the "oak-aged" designation is kinda a ripoff. I'm basing this mostly on Oak Aged Arrogant Bastard which has no discernible difference in taste from the regular one... I don't entirely understand the science but I know from whiskey that over the seasons, the barrel absorbs some of the liquid and then releases it, adding color and flavor. It would make sense that oak chips would do something similar but hasn't been the case in my experience.

 

Ithaca's Tastes Like Burning, though (if I remember correctly) it was an entry at Extreme Beer Fest years ago.

 

Word is they are scared someone is going to sneek some of their peppers out. They are very protective of them. Cycler's Brewing in Montgomery Tx does a virgin french oak of their Domestique Wit. It is quite interesting, it really mutes a lot of the characteristics and you pick up the buttery taste that you associate with a Chardonnay. I think it is really interesting when you can taste 2 beers from the same roots that were handled different side by side.

 

Barrel-aging supposedly releases more complex flavors (more vanilla etc) as you get a wider range of the wood. Oak chips are typically from the less desirable parts. I haven't done any direct comparisons though, and in my homebrews this years I'm going with oak chips.

 

I love both Oak aged and Barrel aged beers... I probably prefer barrel-aging but Oak is enough a lot of the time. It really depends on the beer, and also how much oak flavor is actually present.