Lower alcohol barrel aged beers

Well, the idea is that barrel-aging involves the beer being absorbed into the barrel and "spit" back out depending on temperature swings. So, if the barrel is virgin, then some of the beer (and maybe the alcohol) will stay in the wood, diluting the beer. That's the only reason I can think of.

 

Generally, barrel aging will either increase or maintain a beer's ABV, but there's certainly no guarantee of an increase. Sometimes, a beer is not 100% barrel aged and blended with either a different (possibly lower ABV) beer or with the non-BA version of the same beer which can lead to a lower ABV.

In Dogfather's case, given that the ABV is so close, it could just be batch or recipe variation. I'm not sure if it's 100% barrel aged.

 

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/718/2184/

 

There is always the possibility that the beer that goes into the barrel is a modified version of the 'original' beer that is brewed just for the barrel, and it may have less alcohol so that the BA version would have less. The melding of the barrel flavor with the 'original' beer's flavor is the brewer's objective.

Or, the BA version could be blended after the barrel aging with a similar beer with lower alcohol. Again, the beer's flavor is the objective of the brewer.

 

I'm unclear what you mean by "100% barrel aged".

and whatever this is supposed to contribute

 

Jfc...

100% barrel aged means every component of the final product is aged in a barrel. If there is just a little unaged beer blended, it is no longer 100% barrel aged. Think single malt whisky and age statements.

As far as my post, this thread is about barrel aging for flavor, rather than just making a potent alcoholic beverage. If I was wrong, whatever. It's an Internet forum.