When it comes to barrel-aging, Curt’s main principle is that you can’t make a bad beer good by simply throwing it in a barrel. Lucky for him, in 2016 Voodoo was able to acquire what is known as the Compound – a second facility that gave Voodoo the chance to expand their barrel program.Ī barrel program that once was five barrels when Curt came on-board, has grown to over two-hundred barrels today. In 2010 when head brewer Curt Rachocki took over brewing operations he wanted to sink every resource available to building out their barrel program. Since jump-starting their iconic Barrel Room Collection back in 2013 with the “Black Magick Trio,” Voodoo has continuously offered up one banger after the next. If you’re talking about the top barrel programs for stouts, you have to include Voodoo in the conversation. Aged one year in 10- to 15-year-old bourbon barrels, and blended with a two-year-old vintage, the beer is creamy and smooth, drinking well under the ABV on the bottle. KDS is a prime example of why Fremont has one of the most consistent barrel programs in the country. Matt initially brewed Dark Star to celebrate the birth of his brother’s first child. Photo courtesy of many of the beers brewed at Fremont, the base for KDS was born from a homebrew recipe. “Each of the beers reflects a dimension of my passion for big, dark beers and the eternal humility that working with wood instills,” Matt says. While Fremont’s beers are packaged to be consumed the day they leave the brewery, Matt believes in “brewing for the future,” noting the beers should be able to handle at least ten years of aging. The following year, Matt nearly doubled his recipe and alcohol content to release what has become a fan favorite: Bourbon Abominable Winter Ale. While Matt had been tinkering the recipe for years, he always wanted to know how a barrel would alter a beer he regularly brewed. He started with a homebrew recipe-an eight percent Winter Warmer called Abominable Winter Ale. It’s been nine years since Matt Lincecum, co-founder of Fremont Brewing, brewed his first beer destined for barrels. Right from the outset, the coffee flavors hijack your palate in the best way possible, exploding with flavor and faint notes of dark chocolate and vanilla to create one of my favorite barrel-aged coffee Stouts. Aged on Dark Matter Coffee, Café Deth comes in at almost 15 percent ABV, and bursts with notes of nuts and coffee that can be detected from across the room as you crack the can. Photo courtesy of after their founder Josh Deth, Revolution’s coffee variant had limited distribution but is a must try for any coffee lover. He notes that barrel-aging should not be “you get what you get,” but rather “something intentional and focused.” Beer to Try: Café Deth Knowing that each year the final product will vary, Marty and the team focus on differentiation and quality control. “It’s a lot like making blended whiskeys or blended wines,” Marty says. Because of this growth, Revolution has been able to set aside batches over the years, allowing them to blend vintages and create new beers to share with their fans. “Our barrel program has grown and diversified to focus on traditional brewing methods and some winemaking barrel disciplines,” Revolution’s barrel program lead Marty Scott said. Revolution started with three barrels for their first release in 2013 and has grown to one-thousand barrels for their 2018 Deep Wood Series. They started turning heads with their barrel-aged Imperial Oatmeal Stout in 2017. 2017 marked the first time Revolution packaged variants other than the coffee-flavored Café Deth. Revolution has been releasing an annual stout since 2013. To narrow down the choices, I caught up with nine breweries that range from offering nationally distributed barrel-aged goodness to those filling their first barrels as an official brewery to chat about their philosophies behind crafting our favorite cold-weather beverage. While there are so many options for today’s beer nerd, there are a few breweries that have become known for their barrel program. While Hall unfortunately didn’t walk home with any hardware that day, his DQ forever changed the craft beer scene.įast forward to today, not only does the Great American Beer Festival have a category for barrel-aged Stouts, but also almost every brewery in America now offers their own take on the barrel-aged stout. In 1995, Hall entered his creation-the future Bourbon County Brand Stout-at the Great American Beer Festival but it was disqualified because his beer didn’t fit any of the designated style categories. In 1992, Hall filled six freshly emptied bourbon barrels with an Imperial Stout to celebrate the 1,000th batch of beer brewed at Goose Island. It’s been 27 years since Goose Island’s brewmaster Greg Hall gifted us with what has been accepted as the first barrel-aged stout.
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