Kelsen barrel aged beers

Discussion in 'New England' started by 4DAloveofSTOUT, Nov 23, 2021.

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  1. 4DAloveofSTOUT

    4DAloveofSTOUT Grand Pooh-Bah (4,064) Nov 28, 2008 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Looking to make a potential trade for barrel aged Kelsen and need some help with what out there from Kelsen.

    I see there is bottles of 2021 Rum Vinatta & 2018 Port Vinatta. Those both sound awesome! What about bottles of bourbon Vinatta? I saw a review for draft bourbon Vinatta nothing in bottles though to speak of here on BA.

    Any other barrel aged beers from Kelsen that saw bottling that you Kelsen super fans enjoy and might have an extra bottle to trade?

    Are the releases of Kelsen BA beers low bottle counts?

    Do they release something barrel aged in bottles on a yearly basis?

    Is there a reference guide somewhere that is more comprehensive than beeradvocate?

    Appreciate any additional information you East coasters can provide!

    Cheers!
     
  2. MattOC

    MattOC Pooh-Bah (2,100) Jan 13, 2013 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Have you taken a look at their website? https://kelsenbrewing.com/





     
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  3. 4DAloveofSTOUT

    4DAloveofSTOUT Grand Pooh-Bah (4,064) Nov 28, 2008 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Yes nothing about bottles of barrel aged beers on the site besides draft pours of rum & port Vinatta
     
  4. rhino88888888

    rhino88888888 Zealot (694) Dec 12, 2013 Massachusetts
    Trader

    According to info on Untappd , I see the following Vinattas were released in bottles. Not sure if this is a comprehensive list

    2018 port
    2019 rum
    2021 rum

    I had the 2019 rum Vinatta and it was pretty darn good. Best of luck. Kelsen does a great job with their dark beers
     
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  5. infectedlobster

    infectedlobster Crusader (434) Apr 22, 2014 Massachusetts
    Trader

    Kelsen does a few annual barrel-aged Vinatta beers, seems like usually 1-2 per year, and it's not always the same type of barrel. They also do barrel aged Vendel, which is a lower ABV stout, along with a few others. A certain popular beer app has a pretty comprehensive list if you search "Kelsen barrel aged". I recall really enjoying bourbon Vendel a few years back.

    More recently, they did their first brandy barrel barleywine, which was pretty good, but the brandy character really reminded me of cheaper brandy like Christian Brothers. IIRC their social media at the time said they'd be doing more barrel aged barleywine, so I've been looking forward to that.

    In any event, their barrel aging program definitely seems pretty focused on a few beers. GL trading for some.
     
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  6. mrmattosgood

    mrmattosgood Maven (1,301) Nov 6, 2010 Canada (BC)

    Is this a thing?
     
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  7. 4DAloveofSTOUT

    4DAloveofSTOUT Grand Pooh-Bah (4,064) Nov 28, 2008 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I hope so. Draken & Vinatta are amazing dark beers. Surprised that they don't have a bigger following.
     
  8. 4DAloveofSTOUT

    4DAloveofSTOUT Grand Pooh-Bah (4,064) Nov 28, 2008 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    great into thank you.
     
  9. BigDummyLamont

    BigDummyLamont Devotee (320) Jan 16, 2021 Massachusetts

    I’m a big fan. Their brown ale is by far my favorite that is readily available. Not even close actually. Their robust porter is exceptional as well. They do dark ales as well as anyone around here.
     
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  10. 4DAloveofSTOUT

    4DAloveofSTOUT Grand Pooh-Bah (4,064) Nov 28, 2008 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Draken is up there with Everett.
     
  11. hopley

    hopley Pooh-Bah (2,912) Feb 24, 2010 Massachusetts
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Your curiosity equals mine, and I live about 45 miles from where they are located in Derry, NH but given that I also live in Boston right in the middle of Trillium and Tree House country...I’ve never quite made the effort, until this summer.

    I finally had their Battle Ax IPA at a bar in NH which was decent, and scored a four of their Brown Ale, which was the best I’ve had, but still, no one could tell me anything about other stuff. The best I could get is that it’s a small bar / brewery that has very limited distribution of just a couple of its non BA favorites, with its BAs not really seeing any distro at all. I gathered that most of the BA releases stay in kegs for onsite pours (4 oz pours for two different BAs now according to their website), and that the few that do make their way into bottles are for sale at the brewery, potentially with the exception of some favored Derry retailers.

    More information than you were looking for, but in the scope of things - New Hampshire, being one of the most beautiful states in the country for hiking and fall leaf peeping, is often overlooked for beer as it’s overshadowed by its neighbors including VT, MA and Maine. Most people from Boston whiz past Derry on the highway, much more interested in getting to the mountains, or Hill Farmstead, Kelsen doesn’t enter into the radar...! My bet is the Kelsen folks prefer it that way...

    Anyway, that’s the lay of the land as I see it. Sorry I can’t be of more help, if anyone has any updated or better info, please chime in! Cheers!
     
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  12. 4DAloveofSTOUT

    4DAloveofSTOUT Grand Pooh-Bah (4,064) Nov 28, 2008 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    great perspective. Thank you. That didn't even cross my mind about geography & nearby brewery's.
    Bottles of 2021 rum Vinatta & 19 rum Vinatta & 18 port Vinatta exist and were brewery only releases. Couldn't get bottle counts on those batches. Did find alot of information just took a lot of scrolling Kelsen FB page.
     
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  13. sulldaddy

    sulldaddy Grand Pooh-Bah (5,716) Apr 6, 2003 Connecticut
    Mod Team BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Ive like the dark Kelsen beers that Ive had. They never have em in the summer when we visit NH though :slight_frown:.
    Ive had decent luck looking at beers listed here on BA and seeing who lists as GOTS.
    There are like 14 people that say they have Vendel as a got and some are posted very recent.

    Reachout via beermail, bet they can score the beers for you!

    Good luck.
     
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  14. 4DAloveofSTOUT

    4DAloveofSTOUT Grand Pooh-Bah (4,064) Nov 28, 2008 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Thank you!

    I have had Vinatta, Vendel, Draken & Paradigm. All really great beers. You can tell they are small batch & quality is high. Regular Vinatta was my favorite. One of the best non barrel aged RIS out there. Would love to snag a few BA Vinatta it should be fire!
     
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  15. jstout26

    jstout26 Pundit (796) May 30, 2013 New Hampshire
    Trader

    Not sure if this helps any because I don't have any more information other than this. There were bottle releases of 2016 and 2017 Bourbon Vendel and 2019 Rum Vinatta.
     
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  16. 4DAloveofSTOUT

    4DAloveofSTOUT Grand Pooh-Bah (4,064) Nov 28, 2008 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    It does help! Thank you. A few days ago I did a FB scroll all the way back to 2015. Got alot of information of Kelsen BA releases. You confirm information that I found.

    Now I am just having a hard time with finding people who have BA Kelsen bottles for trade. Made to ISO/FT posts in the trade forums and got crickets so far.
     
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