Saint Arnold Bishop Barrel 11

"Gindeavour"

https://twitter.com/SaintArnold/status/642335042488799232

 

Very interesting. So, a Gin aged barleywine.

 

Gin Double IPA actually

 

It was a joke.. Aged Double IPA = Barleywine

 

Yep, gin barrel aged Endeavour. Now that the jokes are out of the way with barrel aged DIPA/barleywine, I'll talk about the beer. I've been wanting to make this beer for almost a year. A sales rep of ours brought a bottle of barrel aged gin to the brewery about a year ago. As a gin fan, I loved it. At the time, I'd never had a barrel aged gin before. We sampled this gin along with our lineup of beers and loved the pairing it had with Endeavour. So, we started looking for the barrels, and kept looking and looking. Gin barrels are hard to come across, especially at the volume we wanted to make for a Bishop's barrel. Finally, we got them after ~7months of looking. 4 months on the wood got us the flavor we wanted, blended it with some fresh to bring out a nice hop bite and now you have GinDeavour. It's an 80/20 blend of aged to fresh endeavour.

To curb any comments about aging DIPAs, I'm well aware of the issues of aging hoppy beers, which is why we didn't want to age this beer very long on oak. We wanted the gin character without too much oak and without too much oxidation on the hops. I suspect this beer will be polarizing. I've never had a beer like it, mostly because I haven't had many gin barrel aged beers...if any. The pine notes from the Simcoe hops are an awesome combo with the juniper/herb/spices of the gin barrel. And the malt body of Endo can easily withstand the aging. I believe gin fans will love this beer....not sure about those who don't. Hope you guys like it. Release date is 9/21.

 

4 months on the wood? I thought the warning label says 4 hours?

Very interested to try this!!

 

All jokes aside, I am a HUGE Endeavor fan (although it has been impossible to find fresh in bottles or on tap lately) and will be very interested in trying this release. The blend is a great idea.

 

Spreadsheet is here.

 

For some reason every 4 pack I see of Endeavour lately doesn't have the date it was bottled on the neck. Anyone else notice this or know why it's like that?

 

Not normally a fan of aged IPA's but... I like Endeavor and I like gin. Plus it seems well thought out. I look forward to trying this.

 

BA Bols Genever?

 

Smooth Ambler

 

Been seeing those all over town.

 

Saint Arnold Endeavour Transformed into “Gindeavour” for Bishop’s Barrel No. 11
Imperial IPA Aged in Gin Barrels Released in Bars and Restaurants Today

HOUSTON, September 21, 2015 – Saint Arnold Brewing Co. (www.saintarnold.com), the oldest craft brewery in Texas, releases Bishop’s Barrel No. 11 today – Saint Arnold Endeavour Imperial IPA aged for five months in gin barrels and blended with a small amount of fresh Endeavour to bring the base beer’s piney, resiny hops forward. Saint Arnold Bishop’s Barrel No. 11 is only available in pubs and restaurants throughout Texas and Louisiana in 12 ounce bottles and on draft.

This is Saint Arnold’s first publicly released barrel-aged IPA and the first time Saint Arnold has released a beer aged in gin barrels. Saint Arnold sourced gin barrels from craft distillery Smooth Ambler Spirits, which barrel ages its award-winning Smooth Ambler Greenbrier Gin in used bourbon barrels. Aging Endeavour in these barrels adds spicy juniper flavors that play exceptionally well with Endeavour’s hops.

“Hoppy beers like Endeavour are typically best enjoyed fresh, so it was a bit of a tightrope to figure out the optimum time needed to infuse the base beer with the interesting mix of aromas and flavors from the gin barrels without muting its hop character,” said Saint Arnold Brewer Aaron Inkrott. “We finally decided to mix in about 20 percent fresh Endeavour to liven up the hops, which worked great.”

Saint Arnold Bishop’s Barrel No. 11, known internally at Saint Arnold as “Gindeavour,” pours a beautiful copper color with an off white head. The nose is a spicy mix of hops, wood, juniper and a hint of bourbon. The familiar Imperial IPA bitter is balanced with a nice malt backbone from pale two row and caramel malts. The Columbus, Simcoe and Centennial hops provide piney, resiny notes that balance with the juniper/gin character from the barrel aging.

Unlike past releases in the series that could continue to develop with further aging, Saint Arnold Bishop’s Barrel No. 11 is best enjoyed now.

Saint Arnold’s 2,000 square foot barrel room accommodates more than 200 barrels from California, Kentucky, West Virginia and France. Aging times can range from a few months to well over a year. The batches are identified by the number on the neck label. While these beers can be aged, they have done a fair amount of aging in the barrels and are designed to be enjoyed soon after bottling. Future Bishop’s Barrel beers are currently aging, including Old Ale with cherries aged in Sauvignon Blanc barrels with brettanomyces, Belgian Quadruppel aged in bourbon barrels and Imperial Stout aged in Bourbon barrels.

BB11 Specifications:

• Date Brewed: February 23, 2015
• Date Racked: April 8, 2015
• Date Bottled: September 11, 2015
• Type of Barrel: Smooth Ambler Gin Barrels
• Original Gravity: 1.085
• Final Gravity (before barrel): 1.011
• Final Gravity (after barrel): 1.009
• Alcohol: 8.8 percent ABV prior to barreling and 10.1 percent ABV after barreling
• Bitterness: 58 IBU

 

DR11 is drinking fine as of a couple months ago so I dont see the problem. Drink beer.

 

Pretty sweet but not bad. Cant believe im saying this but i wish they would have added a greater percentage of fresh DIPA. Nice job SA

 

No love for the West side of town? I went 0-4 at all the usual places. Any help would be appreciated.

 

That sounds utterly repulsive.