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Brewers go big with bourbon-barrel aging
• by Sara White • Photos by Jamie DeVillez
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Call it a St. Louis-style whiskey and water. ’Cause it’s beer.
Really, though, your local brewers are doing some cool stuff, whether your drink of choice is beer, a boilermaker or Pappy Van Winkle’s. (For the latter in particular, do read on.) They’re aging beer in bourbon whiskey barrels in hopes that you’ll sip it like wine. “It’s not something that you’re going to drink after cutting the grass,” said Paul Hayden, beer buyer at The Wine & Cheese Place in Clayton.
Another reason Hayden’s likely to take his time with these big beers: small production. Sometimes very small production. Take the case of O’Fallon Brewery’s Whiskey Barrel Smoked Porter. And we do mean the case: Hayden received one of only 15 cases made in 2006.
A single Jim Beam bourbon barrel was filled with O’Fallon Smoked Porter and aged for one year – New Year’s Day ’06 to ’07, to be exact. Sharp charred-oak and bourbon flavors initially took over, said head brewer Brian Owens, but after about six months, they started to mellow and become more vanilla.
Still, as sought-after as the Whiskey Barrel Smoked Porter was, Owens found flaws in his first attempt at bourbon-barrel aging: “The smoke is the first thing to go.” So with his next batch, he blended back in 20 percent regular smoked porter after the barrels were emptied into the finishing tank.
And don’t worry, Owens is making a little more this time. He’s got two barrels’ worth (about 40 cases) that he hopes to have bottled by Christmas. For this release, Owens went down to the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Franklin County, Ky., to pick up barrels that previously contained nine- and 11-year-old Ancient Age bourbon. “I think it’s even better than the Jim Beam batch,” Owens said.
Not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but get a load of what else is aging at O’Fallon: smoked porter in four barrels that previously contained famed 23-year-old Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve bourbon. (It’s about $200 a bottle, if you can find it.) At first, Owens didn’t know how good he had it when he brought the barrels back to St. Charles County; they were old and dry with absolutely no bourbon left in them. (Brewers like the barrels to be wet with booze to control bacteria.) When he realized Pappy Van Winkle’s had been in there since 1984, “I see why there wasn’t a drop left in the barrels, then,” Owens said with a laugh. “We’ll never see these barrels again.” He’ll do you the favor of periodically tasting the Pappy’s batch of Whiskey Barrel Smoked Porter to see how it’s coming along, but figured it should be ready to share in a few months.
Available now is the second vintage of Schlafly Beer’s Reserve Series duo: An imperial stout that spent the spring in Jim Beam bourbon barrels and a barleywine, which, though not aged in bourbon barrels, was aged on new Missouri and French oak. This year, St. Louis-based Schlafly produced about 700 cases of Imperial stout and 600 cases of barleywine.
“Aging does both beer styles nicely,” said chief brewer Stephen Hale. Indeed it does: If you somehow managed to hang on to a couple of bottles of ’06 Schlafly Reserve, they are awesome now. Crack open last year’s barleywine and smell the caramel from across the room. And if you’ve ever described an Imperial stout as chocolaty, wait till you get a whiff of this one. Both beers have taken on rich raisin-currant flavors.
There’s no doubt the Schlafly Reserves grew more complex from ’06 to ’07. Hale’s goal, in fact, is to have enough vintages to do a five-year vertical tasting in 2010. “I hope they’re not the same each year,” he joked. That’s the thing: No one’s certain whether the oak-aged beers will continue to improve, though the brewers – generous as they are – are determined to find out. “It’s in the genetic makeup of craft brewers to keep tinkering,” Hale said.
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Brian Owens (pictured at left), head brewer at O’Fallon Brewery, is aging some of his smoked porter in barrels that contained 23-year-old Pappy Van Winkle’s bourbon.
Other oak-aged beers to try
We know there’s some solid oak-aging action going on in St. Louis breweries, but the Denver area appears to be the stronghold. (Heck, even Anheuser-Busch’s oak-aged beer, Winter’s Bourbon Cask Ale, is brewed in nearby Fort Collins.) Note the Mile High flavor of this list from Paul Hayden of The Wine & Cheese Place, whom we asked to suggest some beers made outside of the STL.
• Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout, Great Divide Brewing Co., Denver
Hayden described this beer as thick and viscous with a mocha-chocolate profile. “It also has a very good hop characteristic to keep it balanced.”
• La Folie, New Belgium Brewing Co., Fort Collins, Colo.
This was the most controversial beer at The Wine & Cheese Place’s Beer Fest earlier this year, Hayden said. “Half the people loved it, and half the people hated it.” La Folie is a Belgian-style sour ale that’s been aged in oak for one to three years (it’s got a cork and everything). “One customer’s comment was, ‘Bro, that tastes like shrimp.’”
• Oerbier Reserva 2006, De Dolle Brouwers, Esen, Belgium
This ale was aged for 18 months in Bordeaux wine casks. Hayden described it as having an amber-red color with more spice than the other beers on the list.
• Samael’s Ale, Avery Brewing Co., Boulder, Colo.
Hayden expected this oak-aged English-style strong ale to hit Missouri shelves at any moment. Already for sale in Illinois.
• Oak Aged Imperial Stout, Left Hand Brewing Co., Longmont, Colo.
Named “the best beer ever brewed if you love chocolate flavors” by Modern Brewery Age magazine. Take a ride to the Illinois side ’cause Left Hand isn’t available in Missouri – yet.
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