Will Bourbon Barrels Ever Be Rivaled?

No. I only see more barrel aging. Pretty soon BA pils will be a thing.

 

I don't think bourbon barrel aged beers will ever "go away", per se. Like the controversial New England IPA, the hype is too real, the beers themselves are often stellar; they are never going away. Bourbon barrel beers are here to stay, I think, and I'm okay with that.
However, I would like to see more types of barrels used, for sure. There should be more rum barrel aged stouts. More red or white wine barrel aged saisons and sours would be amazing. Hell, for that matter, I would like to see more beers aged in plain white oak barrels. I love the coconut/vanilla flavors from oak. Even IPAs can benefit from this. 21st Amendment's Hop Crisis DIPA tastes great aged on oak spirals.
So, yes, keep on with bourbon barrels, but more types of barrels, by all means.

 

Other spirit and wine barrels have slowly caught on, but American whiskey in charred oak seems to bring out flavors that many people prefer in a spirit or a beverage aged in a "second use" barrel. Even many Anejo tequilas are aged in Bourbon barrels to increase depth of flavor and overall complexity.

Bourbon is a quintessential American beverage, so to answer your question...it's not going anywhere.

However, with that said, I think the trajectory will shift slightly from Bourbon barrel-aged beers to "Oaked" beers. Specifically, oak that isn't as heavily toasted for spirits, yet still offers flavors that play well in beers that aren't a RIS. Think Oaked Arrogant Bastard or Firestone DBA. Many beers are fair game for an oak treatment from IPA's to craft malt liquor.

That's just my guess anyway.

 

My answer is still the same. BOURBON barrels are the most common and readily available. Plus, BOURBON barrels can only be used once so they either get shipped/sold to breweries or Scotland for scotch.

Breweries will just find new ways to provide variantion with adjuncts and changing the base beer as opposed to changing the barrels.

I still say BOURBON aged pils is the next big thing.

 

I feel the same way. I love Bourbon barrel aged beers, and don't think they're going anywhere, but I'd love to see different barrels used more. For example, I love gin and I know there are gin barrel aged beers out there. I've not come across any yet but I'm excited to try them and see what gin barrels bring to the table.

I've also been impressed with wine barrel aged beers I've had so I can only hope there's more where that came from.

Cheers

 

There's a brewery out here that already did that. I'm afraid to try it.

 

My cellar is pretty heavy with Bourbon Barrel Aged stouts, probably 80%. Bourbon barrels would be a terrible thing to waste, so they will continue to find uses for beer, for syrup, etc. Love me some Rum BA stouts though - much better than Bourbon. If I could get my hands on a quantity of Rum BA stouts at a decent price, I may not even bother with Bourbon. Prairie Pirate Bomb and Rum BA Fidy are two prime examples, but too hard to get around here, and too expensive for daily drinkers. Haven't tried Rum BA Fidy yet, but could it not be excellent given Bourbon BA Fidy which I like.

 

My personal opinion on the matter is that Bourbon barrels are so common and others are not is the palates of folks. They were early entries into the market so the consumers grew a taste and craving for these beers. Demand up so supply up. I also know the other barrels some use can be mighty fickle and difficult to use. The flavor profile of the base with other barrels often clash creating a mess of a beer. It is difficult to see a good Red wine BA beer or a Tequila BA beer (mainly speaking on stouts). I wish more would be produced but I just seems more difficult to do for brewers.. That is just my opinion, could be totally off.

 

This. Bourbon barrels, by law, can only be used once to age *bourbon* so producers are always trying to unload them- makes them super plentiful and cheap. Plus the flavor profile - vanilla and oak primarily - melds well with the chocolate and coffee flavors found in stout.

I would love to see more stouts and strong ales aged in rum, scotch, sherry(!!!), or even red wine barrels, but for brewers, bourbon barrels are so much easier to find and acquire, especially in large quantities. Hell, even scotch distilleries are having trouble finding good sherry barrels these days. Bourbon is insanely popular right now, and there's a glut of "old" first use barrels that distilleries are begging for someone to take off their hands. Until that changes, the vast majority of BA beers will be aged in bourbon barrels.

 

They will definitely never go away, but given how many breweries that are using them now there will have to be a point where demand is higher that supply. Breweries will have to find other types of barrels to use, hopefully spirits like brandy and port are used more often.

 

Saisons aged in Red Wine barrels are darned good. Imperial Stout, not so much.

 

Bourbon Barrels will most likely reign supreme for darker bigger beers for the foreseeable future in my opinion. Wine barrels are already being used heavily for saisons/sours.

 

BBA brews are here to stay, that's the way I see it.

Cheers!

 

Red Wine Cake and Red Wine Narwhal are both fire....if done well its one of my favorite beer styles.. Like I said, just fewer ppl do it because it can be bad.

 

I think bourbon and whiskey in general has always been the more popular liquor before, during, and after prohibition. However, I can appreciate the other barrels mentioned here just as much if not more. I think bourbon barrels are so popular among brewers because it's such a tried and true method.