Attention Colorado Breweries doing Barrel Aging

With Boston Beer doing a Breck Bourbon BA, I doubt there will be enough left over barrels for any local breweries.

That's actually quite a bummer to hear/read.

 

So those assclowns take a contract saying they're the only ones allowed to use Stranahan's barrels anymore and then they give their own barrels to Sam Adams? What do they have against other Colorado breweries? OK, OK, I guess they are competitors but damn.

 

I think the contract is that Breck is the only one to use the name Stranahan's on the beer labels. For all others, they can use the barrels, just not the name. I think

 

Do they distill and age their own or is it contract purchased like a lot of product in the spirits world? Not trying to talk shit at all, just honestly curious.

 

I can still go to Budweiser's website and they say that that still use rice, even though they use corn syrup instead. Your concerns are not unfounded and although their bourbon may now be produced on site, it wasn't originally.

 

I thought it was 4 roses or buffalo trace contracted. I guess they are doing there own stuff now.

 

Breckenridge Bourbon is really good stuff, and the people there are super nice. We've used/are using them at Backcountry Brewery. We were really happy with the results of the first barrel.

I'm not sure about the BBC thing affecting whether or not us little guys can still get some. Knowing them, I'm sure they would still try to put some away for us. I've been meaning to swing by there for a few weeks now. Not sure why I haven't since it's on my drive home from work. I'll have to ask them.

As far as whether they produce on site, I'm pretty sure they do. I've watched them make wash, ferment it, and distill it. I've tasted the distillate straight from the still. There are barrels on site that have liquid in them. They also have bottling parties on site.

I imagine it's possible their initial batches were contract because they had bourbon when they first opened. From what I remember, the stuff they're putting out now is substantially better.

 

Cool, didn't know they were their own separate entity, good to know. I'm still bitter about the whole Stranahan's barrels/Breck Brewery thing but it looks like that's for another thread/conversation. Cheers.

 

Breckenridge Distillery is the real deal. My parents and I toured the place a few weeks ago. They are doing everything in-house - no outsourcing. They are sending barrels to breweries, however I'm not sure which ones. The tour guide did say that they sell barrels to the public @ $150 a pop. They also make a good vodka and some sipping bitters (also very good) but their bourbon is excellent. I've been drinking old fashioneds with this stuff ever since I got a bottle.

Oh, and they use Iowa sweet corn for the bourbon for those who are interested in knowing.

 

Wow. Did they say if they were production barrels and still in usable shape? Would be mighty awesome to homebrew with some legit BA.

 

The AHA has a link on their site for a coompany that sells small batch bourbon barrels as well. I believe they hold six gallons. If you're aging the brew on a fruit of some sort it would be perfect for 5 gallon batches.

 

I loved the BA Barleywine you brought to Aaron's a while back. Got anything else lined up that's aged in their barrels?

 

I didn't press the guide for more info, but I assume they sell the spent barrels as they can't put more whiskey in them and legally call it bourbon. I'm sure they're still in usable shape - they age their whiskey for about 3.5 years before pulling it out of the barrels. I did ask her about barrel capacity though, and apparently in the spirits world, one barrel is 52 gallons as opposed to the 31 in the beer world; so one would be buying a 52 gallon barrel.

 

Maybe . . .

 

If you want a contact name, shoot me a personal email - they were/are going through distributor.

That being said - thats a LOT of beer. I'm splitting a barrel with a couple of friends and its taken a while to brew the 60gal and 20gal each is a sizable amount to consume. For a club, its manageable but you've got to make sure all the brewers know what their doing and can make great quality beer to put into the barrel and have to expect that you may end up with an infection (most homebrewer's sanitation is not up to par with commercial and we've all probably heard or tasted infections from the commercial side that have been BA)