Barrel Aging: When is it necessary?

Just asking but whats the difference if you have 60 gallons of beer in a 60 gallon barrel or a 1000 gallons of beer in a 1000 gallon barrel?- Besides I would call the beer wood aged, not barrel aged. Barrel aging to me means a barrel that previously held a liquor.
Eh - who cares - they are awesome.

 

This has been debated before, but I remain convinced that the base beer for Backwoods Bastard is NOT Dirty Bastard (just like the base beer for KBS is different than FBS). From Full Pint (presumably quoting a Founders press release, which unfortunately I can't find on the internets):

"This beer uses a recipe similar to our Dirty Bastard as its base, then ages in bourbon barrels in caves beneath Grand Rapids before being bottled for you!"

(source: http://thefullpint.com/beer-news/founders-backwoods-bastard-returns-local-collaboration/ )

 

When is it necessary? When you want to sell your beer for more money, I guess.

 

Beers that are better without touching a barrel: Gumballhead, many IPA's excluding the Humidor series at CCB, and... that's it. Barrels make stouts, porters, etc, all better IMO. I haven't had any BA stouts that made me say "Gee whiz, I wish they didn't stick this in a barrel for a year!"

Barrels make good beer into magic.

 

kim jong bal, you really need to try idiot's drool.

 

Southern Tier's Oak-Aged Unearthly DIPA was just nasty. It tasted like an old IPA with some oak flavor to it, with no noticeable hop presence. The regular version of Unearthly is fantastic though

 

Would agree. Plus BWB comes out at 10 or 11 ABV I believe. Dirty Bastard sits at 8 or 9. Doesn't necessarily mean different ingredients, I know.

 

Real Talk: I will drink all the Idiot's Drool.

 

one thing we are learning as "craft" & some of the bigger boys in distilling continue to experiment, the right size barrel imparts the right balance of flavors. kzoobrew is correct as the contact & wood exchange or potential cycling with a standard 53 gallon (not 60) barrel would differ from that of a 1000 gal. vessel.

 

Do many brewers use "plain old oak barrels"? I thought new oak is pretty uncommon in aging beer. Most American wild ales are aged in spirits or wine barrels that have seen many uses or have been washed before being filled with beer. New oak often comes off too strong - brewers generally prefer barrels whose tannin-imparting character has been "mellowed" by previous aging, and then can either wash the barrel or leave the juice in depending on whether or not they want the character of whatever was in it before.

 

To what degree
Everything differs

 

Shelf wale?

 

That's because that's exactly what they did to it. Oak aging is not the same as barrel aging (I used to think they were the same thing too.) When a beer is oak aged they just add oak shavings to the fermentation process. Barrel aging is a whole other beast.

Not trying to sound like a dick by correcting you, just figured I'd put in my $0.02 because I used to make the same mistake.

 

I accidentally hit 'like' before your ellipses...

Storm King and Dark Intrigue are a great example of no-barrel being better. Storm King is a world class hoppy RIS. Dark Intrigue basically took the hops away and exchanged them for a barrel. Storm King is better.

Can't agree at all with the Black IPA thing though. First off, Storm King has been around since long before that was a recognized style. Second, it's still not that close - it's just a hopped-up RIS.

 

I think wine and spirit makers pay a lot for those tannin-imparting characters. Isn't new oak significantly more expensive?

 

I don't think it's ever "necessary", but for me, barrel aging is always welcomed

 

I think generally speaking Barleywines & Soured Ales Gain the most from being in the wood. I have had other styles that were BA that I thought were great, but too often I think the barrel just ends up masking a lot of subtle flavors. I have a love hate relationship with BA Stouts. Sometimes the barrel kicks it to 11, but I find I'm more often than not left disappointed by a one dimensional brew.

 

I don't think barrel aging is ever "necessary." An excellently made beer will be excellent itself. Barrel aging it will make it different, but not necessarily "better."

I think only bold, intense beers should be barrel aged. A strong base beer will compete with the barrel, meaning both the base beer and the barrel will contribute to the end taste profile. This is ideal, as the barrel aging will add a level of complexity while the base beer is still to be found. A weak base beer will get creamed by a barrel, meaning it'll turn into a barrel bomb. Pretty one dimensional and unimpressive. Not my style at least.

Love De Molen's H&V barrel aged variants, as the base beer is so big. Hunahpus barrel ages really nicely, as does Great Divide Yeti. Would love to see Midnight Sun Moscow in barrels. Would also love to try the base beer for Abyss, Black Tuesday and Bourbon County stout, for totally different reasons.

Jeff

 

Never a solid beer will always stand on its own if not then you are probably better of drinking the stuff that was in the barrel previously.

 

aging in a spirit barrel is always going to add a percentage point or 2 to the abv.