Cognac Barrel Aged Beers: Masterpiece or Mistake?

It depends on the base beer and the brewer's skill with barrels. Bourbon barrel aged beers seem to be pretty popular, I have had some that were utterly disgusting. CCB Imp. Sweet Stout was excellent, I'm sure miserable examples of cognac barrel aged beers exist.

 

I'm not sure yet. But I have two newly acquired bottles of Cantillon 50n 4e that is aged in cognac barrels. Haven't had an occasion yet to try one but I'll let you know when I do.

That said they sound fantastic to me, but I like beer and cognac separately.

 

had Mikkeller cognac barrel-aged George! @ Dark Lord Day and loved it

 

Cognac black was fantastic. black hole was just meh.... Imperial sweet was amazing.

 

Anchorage Brewing did a barleywine in cognac barrels that was for sure a masterpiece. One the best barleywines I have ever had

 

Veritas 11 (barleywine aged in cognac barrels w/nectarines) is pretty damn great.

 

Nebraska brewing company had a real nice quad aged in cognac barrels. I don't think it's a masterpiece, but very nicely done

 

Had Scepter from Funkwerks that was a cognac barrel-aged BGSA. It was quite tasty. I would drink it again.

 

I've said it before, but Olden Horney from Bull City Burger and Brewery is a masterpiece. Aged in 1963 cognac barrels

 

Had Black Raven's Wheatwine aged in Congac barrels the other weekend. Felt it was very close to masterful, and like the idea of aging beer in congac barrels.

 

50N x 4E was amazing when relatively fresh. I haven't tried the new batch.

 

Cognac Barrel Sentience from Crooked Stave is a huge want...
Mikkeller Beer Geek Cognac definitely wasnt a let down.

 

Cognac Sweet Stout from CCB is an amazing beer. I know I've had a few others as well but they slip my mind at the moment.

 

I've actually never had a Cognac barreled beer. I imagine it would be delicious, but if someone wants to send me a Cognac DL for scientific purposes, I can let you know the results.

 

Mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch Cognac Weasel was good, but I'd like to try the original to compare...since then I've learned it's shit beer so I'm glad I tried it first without knowing it otherwise I might have been hesitant.

 

CCB cognac sweet and FFF cognac moloko are two of the best beers I've ever had

 

Cognac barrel aged George from mikkeller = masterpiece.

Bully guppy from three floyds = mistake.

Hard to make a blanket generalization

 

Since no one wanted to trade me an older bottle, I can't personally compare, but listening to those that have tried....the new batch is much more balanced and they are very happy with it compared to the previous bottles. I had a newer bottle and was quite pleased, as it is nothing like any other I've had.

 

Cognac DL is my favorite non-vanilla BADL variation.
agreed with the Cigar City Cognac Sweet Stout as awesome too

 

Bully Guppy holds up to the best of them

 

Olde burnside's amazing grace first run was in bourbon barrels and was great. Round two was in cognac and was quite forgettable

 

Depends. I've had some that are really good (Crooked Stave's Nightmare on Brett version for instance) and some that are rough and boozy sweet, too.
It's not always about the barrels, but getting the beer going into them to properly match.

 

I said masterpiece because the CCB Imperial Sweet Stout in Cognac Barrels was fucking delicious. But, one must understand, that not all barrels are for every beer. There's a certain flavor profile that works best with each type of barrel.

 

Cognak Beer Geek Brunch Weasel was at a tasting event I was at. It was universally a major dud. No one even thought it was OK. A few of the same people have said they that they thought the Cognac Dark Lord from 2012 was outstanding.

 

Some are good, some are bad.

 

What it comes down to is whether or not the drinker at hand enjoys the grapey, vinous, glucose-rich flavors cognac (or really any other distilled wine or fortified wine) barrels give a beer.

 

The Crooked Stave Nightmare on Brett series had bourbon, cognac, and brandy aged versions. All very good, but after having them on tap at the barrel cellar my fav was the Brandy.

 

had a cognac m'loko that I traded for and thought that was a delicious beer and look forward to trying others

 

Bully Guppy from FFF.

 

There it is. Ranked number 25 on the bottom 100, and it only cost a reasonable $35. Mmmmmmm, cognac and battery acid....

 

Let's not forget Cognac Church on a Hill :-) Delicious!

 

Cognac George is really delicious, far better (and more complex) than George. Beer Geek Brunch Weasel Cognac is far less interesting that Beer Geek Brunch Weasel. Even for the same brewer (if Mikkeller could be considered as a brewer...), the results can vary much.
Cognac is actually the perfect barrel to age lambic. 50°N is very good, Crianza Helena excellent and LH12 amazing. The raisins notes remind of the woody and vinous aromas in the lambic, which can be simply stunning!

 

Yeah but...lol...look at what Bully Guppy's base was. It was a mistake to put that in ANY barrel. They did the cognac barrels a serious injustice aging that nonsense in there. It wasn't the cognac barrel's fault.