More Spirit Barrel-Aged AWA's?

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by yeahnatenelson, Jul 16, 2012.

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  1. yeahnatenelson

    yeahnatenelson Pooh-Bah (1,952) Feb 8, 2010 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Wine barrel-aged American Wild Ales are commonplace, but spirit barrel-aged wild/sour beers seem to not have existed until very recently. Both Upland and Boulevard have now made Bourbon barrel-aged sour ales (Gilgamesh and Love Child, respectively) and Upright has done a few things with Ransom's Old Tom Gin, but beyond that I can't think of any having been made in the US.

    Is there anything out there that I've overlooked? Are there any releases on the horizon?
     
    #1 yeahnatenelson, Jul 16, 2012
  2. Knifestyles

    Knifestyles Initiate (0) Jun 7, 2005 New York

    Cascade's Bourbonic Plague?

    EDIT: So perhaps not bourbon barrels exclusively....guess it's a blend of wine & bourbon. Still, it's in there!
     
    #2 Knifestyles, Jul 16, 2012
  3. FosterJM

    FosterJM Initiate (0) Nov 16, 2009 California

    The Avery Barrel Aged Series

    #2-Sui Generis- Wine/Port/Bourbon

    Cheers!
     
    #3 FosterJM, Jul 16, 2012
  4. dumptruck81

    dumptruck81 Initiate (0) Dec 28, 2011 Texas

    I could be wrong but I think for wild/sour beers most brewers will a combination of bourbon, wine, or whatever they can get there hands on. They're not using it to get the bourbon flavor though. Just a barrel to age/sour it in. I had love child #2 and didn't really get any bourbon taste with it.
     
    #4 dumptruck81, Jul 16, 2012
  5. yeahnatenelson

    yeahnatenelson Pooh-Bah (1,952) Feb 8, 2010 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Well...kinda. It's common for bourbon barrels to have a second use in sour programs after the initial aged beer is emptied - for instance, I understand that many of the spent bourbon barrels from Founders go to Jolly Pumpkin. I'd imagine Lost Abbey does something similar in their own barrel program.

    I'm talking about first-use spirit barrels for sour/wild ales where you actually get the character of the spirit. Bourbonic Plague is a good example - can't believe I forgot that one. I caught some bourbon flavor in the finish of Love Child, but Gilgamesh was a second-run for Upland's Pappy barrel(s) so there really wasn't much there.

    Oh, and another one I forgot is the Crooked Stave Reserve line. I think there's a Cognac brett beer on the way - Nightmare on Brett Street?
     
    #5 yeahnatenelson, Jul 16, 2012
  6. commis

    commis Initiate (0) Jul 21, 2009 Massachusetts

    Green Man here in Asheville recently did a wild that saw some time in a rum barrel. The rum was very, very subtle but still evident. It was fantastic.
     
    #6 commis, Jul 17, 2012
  7. VncentLIFE

    VncentLIFE Initiate (0) Feb 16, 2011 North Carolina

    Im waiting for Top of the Hill in Chapel Hill, NC to use the spirit barrels from their own distillery on their beers.
     
    #7 VncentLIFE, Jul 17, 2012
  8. MrFootstones

    MrFootstones Initiate (0) Aug 8, 2008 California

    Cuvee de Tomme uses bourbon barrels. I believe it's a blend of oak barrels that have held various beverages previously these days. From some research I was doing about the history of that beer it appears to have been exclusively bourbon barrels in the past (og Southern California beer nerds correct me if I'm wrong).
     
    #8 MrFootstones, Jul 17, 2012
  9. yeahnatenelson

    yeahnatenelson Pooh-Bah (1,952) Feb 8, 2010 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    And this makes sense: reusing Older Viscosity and Angel's Share barrels for sour projects, since it's often too risky to put them through a second run of a critter-free strong ale.
     
    #9 yeahnatenelson, Jul 17, 2012
  10. spd

    spd Initiate (0) Jun 9, 2009 Colorado

    o'dell bourbon barrel stout is a great sour beer. :rolling_eyes:
     
    #10 spd, Jul 17, 2012
  11. yeahnatenelson

    yeahnatenelson Pooh-Bah (1,952) Feb 8, 2010 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    You joker! I'm not talking beers like Abyssident or Churchill's Finest Sour.
     
    #11 yeahnatenelson, Jul 17, 2012
  12. dvelcich

    dvelcich Zealot (646) Feb 6, 2008 Illinois
    Trader

    #12 dvelcich, Jul 17, 2012
  13. tewaris

    tewaris Initiate (0) Jul 14, 2009 Minnesota

    The Gilgamesh you gave me tasted better than other sour brown ales to me because of the barrels, thanks!
     
    #13 tewaris, Jul 17, 2012
  14. ithinkimasofa

    ithinkimasofa Initiate (0) Dec 24, 2006 Washington

    Speaking of Goose Island, I enjoyed Dominique when it made draft appearances in DC a year or so ago. I guess that's not quite first use spirit barrels (it was old BCBS barrels, I think?), but I remember bourbon being present in the beer. Still wish I would have bought some of that infected Matilda before the bottles were pulled...
     
    #14 ithinkimasofa, Jul 17, 2012
  15. JohnB87

    JohnB87 Zealot (673) Mar 14, 2011 Michigan

    I gotta give a shout out to Hopcat's The Rapture. It got mixed reviews on here, but I thought it was awesome. It was a Wild Ale aged in KBS barrels.
     
    #15 JohnB87, Jul 17, 2012
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