What is the hype behind barrel aging?

I can't answer for every person in this community, but my personal interest in BBA beers really peaks once there's some age on it. For me, balancing the flavour of whisky with the nuances of the beer itself (be it a stout, barleywine or porter) is more intriguing than a hot whisky bomb. I can understand your reticence to accept the hype around them based on either a dislike for whisky, or a dislike for overpowering whisky. Makes perfect sense either way. If the former is true, than indeed there are some great wood aged beers out there that only impart the essence of the wood and no whisky at all. If the latter is correct, maybe grab a bottle of BBA beer and sit on it for a year or two and see if it starts to come back to something you enjoy.

At the end of the day, if you simply don't like them than cool. I personally don't like anything with brett no matter how much hype they receive; mostly because I cannot stand barnyard funk in beer no matter what anyone says or proclaims about them. In fact, I do not feel the least bit bad about not liking them! Drink on, enjoy the fact that you'll never catch yourself standing in a long ass line for a BBA beer release or chasing delivery trucks - just check out the BCBS and KBS madness threads!

 

eh threads like this just tie into the very annoying internet trend of:

"EVERYTHING I LIKE IS UNDERRATED AND UNDER-APPRECIATED!
EVERYTHING I DISLIKE IS OVERRATED AND IS NOTHING MORE THAN HIPSTER HYPE!"

It just gets old. Is it really SO baffling to you that people like these beers?

I hate gin, yet one of the most interesting and really good beers I had this year was aged in gin barrels and pinot noir barrels. I didn't scoff at it just because I don't like gin.

 

opinion

seriously.

Some of us seem to struggle with the idea that opinions naturally differ. Just because someone doesn't like something you like doesn't mean their palate hasn't 'developed' - it just means they disagree with you.

 

I've been drinking beer for thirty years and I still haven't developed a taste for barrel-aged stuff. I think we'll all be okay.

 

Here Here! I love PLAIN barrel aged beers! Lucid makes an amber aged in oak barrels called Duce (doo-chay) that is fantastic.

 

Agreed, and likewise just because people like these BA beers doesn't mean they should just pour a glass of whiskey, wine, or whatever just instead just because folks like you and TS might not enjoy these flavors of other booze mixing with their beer. I genuinely enjoy most different beer styles, including boozy bourbon barrel aged ones, sour wine barrel aged ones, and i'd gladly try whatever other crazy nonsense comes out in 2015.

To each their own, but it's pointless to question the market, TS. It's like when people question why there are so many IPA's out there...it's not a question worth asking, the answer is very simple. Brewers produce these beers because they are popular. They are popular because a lot of people like strong flavors.

 

edit - double!

 

We'll all be okay? Fat chance old man! When the barrel aged revolution comes, you are with us or against us! You'll be sitting at your bar enjoying a local pale, completely oblivious to my stealthy approach. You won't see anything, you won't hear anything, and I will strike...with a spritzer of oaky smokey booze. Just like that - BAM! - your beer tastes gross and I run away cackling not unlike a manic Daffy Duck knowing that I won not just this battle, but that we the People are winning the Struggle. At that moment, we'll both be pretty fucking far from okay. Wake Up! Bro. Ron Paul 2012.

 

What barrel-aged beers have you tried?

 

Agreed. I have a handful of favorite beers that I haven't bought in a long time because the next beer I try just might join their ranks... There's also the rotation of series beers, the rotating door of new ones shoving out the old, and I'm partially terrified that my own tick-lust could contribute to the loss of some of my favorites, which seems especially possible in my small rural market.

 

Even as a newbie to craft beer, I can't ever recall NOT liking barrel-aged beers. And this is from someone who rarely drank wine & generally avoided whiskey/bourbon unless they were mixed with soda to cut the bitterness. But that doesn't mean they're for everyone, to each his or her own.

Now, they're my most-desired beers, far surpassing the imperial IPAs my hop-oriented palate used to regard as the pinnacle. I can even finally appreciate quality bourbon on its own, like when a friend gave me a sip of Pappy at a party recently. You could say bourbon-barrel aged beers have been a gateway drug to bourbon for me.

 

They hype is
1. acquire barrel aged beer
2. trade barrel aged beer
3. profit

 

Yes, history teaches that fellow travelers are always first to get it in the neck.

As an idiot, I do try to be useful.

 

This. Shit is expensive.

 

Voicing unpopular opinions is whining....welcome to BA

 

Beer isn't the only thing barrel aged. Wine ages in barrels to add flavor. And if you prefer an anejo or reposado tequila to the blanco (or "silver") it is the same tequila that has spent varying amounts of time in barrels. Try any of Firestone Walker's boxed beers and see what correctly done barreling can do for a beer. And if you don't like it, hey, you don't like it. That's your right.

 

Hype?

 

You're not whining, you're just being a jerk. You're being overly sarcastic and patronizing to people who like something different than you. No one is trying to force anything on you. YOU made the post. You asked a question and then got annoyed with the answers. If you want a beer why not just have a nice glass of bud light or maybe a coors?

 

even though my post, echoing many similar sentiments re; opinions/acceptance of divergence, yadda, yadda, was deleted last night (my rookie/noob move---included a non-beer vid clip to highlight my message---"Why Can't We Be Friends by...WAR)...which I humbly accept, understand and will use a growth moment of reflective learning..

I swear it was my 3rd Old Rasputin....I blame "him"

I re-echo/state....

how sadly amusing the diatribes can be...self-righteous/pretentious pontifications....1st Amendment appreciated and all....the very best and worst of BA Nation

my simplistic mindset...is, it can fall into two camps

"It tastes good, I like it"...(should be accepted as such)

or...

"It tastes bad, I don't like it"...(should be accepted as such)

Live, love, accept, appreciate....divergence (debate without judgment or pouting when someone chooses a different perspective)

the end is near...(at least of 2014)....drink well...be happy...BA Nation rocks

 

Personal preference.