Barrel Aging and Brands: Does it Matter?

I would think that a better quality end product results from better quality ingredients. Isn't that true for just about anything?

 

Another group of beers to try to see the difference in barrels is the Hof Ten Dormaal. They have a pale ale and a dark ale, both with 13 (I think) barrel variations.

 

You're gettting somewhere, but IMO and I'm assuming many others as well, the base beer has a lot to do with the end product. It doesn't matter if you are using Ten High or Four Roses, etc, if the base beer is crap, the end product is going to be too.

 

Well, you can do that as well with the Eclipse series as well!

 

I love Islay Whiskey, whoever concocted this mess should be shot, I drain poured my bottle. I prefer Laphroaig if for any other reason price point vs quality, one's $50 the other pushes $100,Lagavulin isn't 2x better than Laphroaig 10, imo of course.

 

I've had some barrel aged beers, including a couple different ones recently, but I'm by no means an expert. I've only really been drinking bourbon at all over the last 2-3 years.

However, one that stood out (not in a good way) was the Wild Turkey BA Barney Flats. I've always felt WT was a crummy brand and that beer did nothing to change my opinion - very harshly boozy.

 

WT isn't a crummy Bourbon at all, there are better, but I don't know there are maybe 3-4 bourbon distillers making so many bourbons. Jim Beam makes Knob Creek I believe, so there are echelons in every distillery. You can't blame a bad BA Stout or Porter on bad Whiskey, blame it on the master brewer who brewed a crummy base beer.

 

my guess is that goose island thought of the same thing years ago, and that's why they get so much more out of barrels than the competition.

 

^^^^^ in a league of its own, and the standard BA Stout all others I drink are measured by, sure I'm not alone here. I can't see how this can really be improved, yes you can add interisting variants that are stellar too, but the base product in perfect imo.

 

everybody that keeps bringing up base beer, i think the discussion is eons past that point. most of us are functioning under the assumption we're talking about first rate base to begin with. but beyond that what barrels do / don't do & whether it's worth worrying about.

i would agree in part. i think more so than they've perfected it in the sense we're thinking, it looks to me like they've positioned themselves well (volume/quantity) to BLEND to decent final batches. whereas i suspect smaller operations probably take lost barrels much more personally & possibly feel more pressure not to discard.

as far as them perfecting profile, there's definitely been better batches with-in annual releases, we've read about them here. there was the failed Rebel Yell barrels that were never released circa 2011/12, they allegedly used small amounts of in the blend/batches of the 2012 release?

going back to *integrity*, if reports were correct, GI secured 50 PVW23 barrels to for Rare. of those 50 it was said 49 were used (98% success rate). it's in that regard i think the barrel can make a difference. i.e. very high percentage of success/return. not so much that it was a Pappy barrel with Pappy spirit & therefore the beer is automatically PappyLicious. it is in part the fact that at 10 years of age a barrel that isn't doing so hot would be cut out of the Pappy pool then & there. if said barrel makes it to 15, 20 or 23 years, either somebody in the warehouse/tasting panel fucked up / forgot about, confused the barrel/location OR the barrel has proven good quality to the point of the last sampling or when it was dumped to vat. if it were a squatter it should have long been yanked. of course. times are getting tough. you might start seeing distillers hawking shit that didn't meet the kind of benchmarks i'm talking about but up to this point you could make some logical assumptions.

 

I think the barrels need to be very different to notice. PVW BORIS and their regular BA BORIS when tasted side by side didn't seem to offer much difference other than price. Now Rye vs Bourbon I have noticed a difference.

If we are talking about non-stout / bigger beers and talk about lighter styles I think the barrel is a lot more noticeable. Chardonnay, Pinot noir, etc.

 

Do any breweries currently use or have used a spirit in the actual brewering of a beer as opposed to aging it in a spirit barrel? I see all sorts of barrel aged beer but i cannot recall ever seeing a beer brewed with a spirit as a brewering ingredient. I appreciate all input on the question.

 

Both arguments are still covered by my post bud.