Best Barrel Program, State by State

Olde Hickory is the obvious choice in NC right now, but keep an eye out on Wicked Weeds barrel program.

 

I was thinking it was a sign of Ba that the one brewery in MI that puts everything through a barrel was not mentioned until you posted Jolly Pumpkin. Not the big boozy Bourbon barrel beers that many think of, but wild and tart.

Edit - not on the radar of many, but Arbor makes excellent barrel aged wild and sour ales.

 

LOL! Yup! BA IST and RedRum are both fantastic... Never had Zapata Bot but hear good things! Chardonneighbor though is the TITS!

 

For Ohio, it's pretty easy:

1) Jackie O's
2) Hoppin' Frog
3) Thirsty Dog

Anyone else is a distant 4th.

 

Depending where you are in NY, Voodoo in Meadeville PA does some awesome barrel stuff! They may not be far from you. voodoobrewery.com is their site.

 

Three Floyd's is not terrible at barrel aging. Murda'd Out was incredibly good. BA Ice Grille, BA Blot Out the Sun, BA Alpha Klaus, Cognac Moloko, Cabra, BA Hell's Black, Conquistador de Muerte, Cat Moves, etc are all outstanding. The fact they put out a couple bad beers and you didn't like BA Behemoth doesn't make them terrible.

 

Personally, I think their BA beers are pretty bad, sugary messes. In general I think FFF does a great job on ipas, pale ales, (zombie dust, gumballhead) and makes largely inferior stouts. (unless you love soy sauce, brown sugar and a shot of bourbon).

 

I visited Upright in Oregon last week, and they have a spectacular barrel program! Way better than HoTD.

 

Agreed on both counts, although Grimm's program is minute by comparison.
Dry Dock's program is pretty solid, too. I still think Bligh's is arguably the best beer brewed in CO, period.
Another dark horse is actually the Bull & Bush. They've been aging beers in liquor barrels longer than anyone else in CO and I think Liquid Brain, Release the Hounds, Royal Oil, Pimp My Rye, and Tank Town Brown are as good as any barrel aged beers in the country.
The Brain has already been bottled and will be on the shelf sooner than later, so I think they'll start to see some more local and national exposure. They don't have the size and scope of Avery, Dry Dock, or some others...but I think they're the best at barrel aging.

 

have you ever had aged rumpkin?

 

Central Waters for Wisconsin

 

I still have a couple '12s and last one drank a few months ago was fantastic. I liked it fresh, but it was real hot, not that I mind. But I do like it better with a year on it.
'13 tasted like it had been aged for a year already right off, it was that smooth despite the 18+ ABV. Seems to me that their barrel-aging skills are getting even better.

 

Word to the Siren Noire - really good beer at a nice price point

 

yeah they had it on tap and it was delicious, I think I might try and age some Uncle J's for this next release

 

Virginia: I vote Three Brothers for their Resolute. It's fantastic. I do really like Williamsburg Alewerks though.

 

I think that you can't just talk about a "barrel program" as if it's one thing. At a minimum, you need to separate sour/wild stuff from stout/barleywine/other non-sour stuff. I realize that it's not a clean line, but the techniques and objectives are different, so someone who excels at sours may not do such a good job with a bourbon-barrel RIS, or vice versa. Some examples of this have already been discussed.

To that end, here in Indiana, I'm going to go with Upland for sour/wild and... leave it TBD for non-sour. As noted in other posts, many are doing things, but either with mixed (or disappointing) results or with very young programs that are a little too early to call.

 

I disagree, i think Clown Shoes has a better barrel aged beers going. Some of their barrel aged stouts are just incredible. Very Angry Beast was one of my top new beers tried in 2013.

 

I have recently bought BA Old Ruffian and BA Old Hibernation but both were bottled 2011.

 

Fair enough. I guess my point is for places like FW it is a completely different side of their business, so I understand the term. All preferences I guess