Barrel-Aged: All The Rage?

Kevin Short — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 18:33:18 +0000

To answer my own question, yes. Barrel-aged is “all the rage.” Even the most conservative breweries—by which I mean “not-very-inclined-to-start-experimenting-with-new-beer-menus breweries,” are starting to hop on the barrel train. Following the call of the “Barrel Herald,” if you will (no, you don’t have to). Barrel-aged tend to leave most of the flavor in the backend of the beer. But it all depends, really, on the brew—and on the barrel. A natural oak barrel—one that hasn’t had anything specific aged in it—will give beer a woody backend. Plus, the time spent in the barrel allows the beer to develop certain flavors that might otherwise have fallen by the wayside. But no two barrels are made the same. Bourb-On the Street Is… A cursory peek into the world of barrel-aging beer will reveal, even to the most un-discerning observer, the popularity of aging in bourbon barrels. Bourbon barrels impart a unique, bourbon-y flavor on beers, which has been described as “figgy,” by those who know what “figgy” means, and a nose that is uncannily like a sniff of the sweet, Kentucky liquor. The flavor of a bourbon barrel tends to come off pretty strong in a beer, so the brews therein will tend to be malty: beers that have enough flavor to compete with the figginess. If a one-way ticket to Flavortown is what you’re looking for, a bourbon barrel-aged beer may just satisfy your desire. The world of barrel-aging is a lot like the wild west: there are no rules (and a lot of whiskey). Bourbon is probably the most common: syrupy and smelly as it is, it gives brewers a uniquely American way of kicking their beers into overdrive. But all kinds of whiskey barrels make all kinds of whiskey-beers! Scotch barrels, for instance, tend to be peated, and thus yield peaty beers. Other whiskey barrels make other whiskey-tasting beers—usually less…noticeable…than their bourbon counterparts. Beer, Barrels & BEYOND Whiskey barrels are popular, but not exhaustive. They’re also not my favorite (not by a longshot). All kinds of wine barrels can be used for barrel-aging beer, too—which is good, because there are all kinds of wine barrels available. The two kinds of wine barrels that I see most used in aging beers are chard and cab. Chardonnay barrels tend to give beers the butt-end of the chardonnay flavor: that dry-sour sting on your tongue. In fact, one of my favorite local breweries in Reno uses that characteristic sting to make sour beer. If you ask them, they’ll tell you it’s little worms in the barrels: like fraternity pledges, they eat the beer and then, also like pledges, they “spit” out acid that makes the beer sour. Sounds suspicious, tastes delicious! Red wine barrels, like those from cabs or pinot noirs, give beer an unsurprising taste of wine. They also stick in your mouth like red wine is wont to do, leaving a layer of tart, fruity beerness with it. So, are barrel-aged beers for you? Well, do you like beer? Do you like non-beer? If the answer to either was “no,” then I wouldn’t suggest it, and I wonder why you bothered reading this at all. If you answered “yes” to either, then I would suggest it. In general, if you like whatever the barrel originally had in it, you’ll like the flavors that it imparts in the beer. If you haven’t hit up your local barrel-aging brewery, go ahead and do it: there’s something for everyone.

The post Barrel-Aged: All The Rage? appeared first on Short Brews.

What’s In A Rye Beer?

Kevin Short — Tue, 27 Jun 2017 18:00:27 +0000

If you’re anything like me, the term “rye” makes you think of Reubens and that other bottle of Wild Turkey you’d never buy. Well, walk into a nice, hip brewery, and you may find yourself face-to-face with a rye ale, IPA, or anything, really. Rye beer is just a beer that uses rye in the malt. Why’s Rye So Uncommon? Although you may not have heard much about them, rye beer has a long history – long, but uneventful. Rye beer, once a common counterpart to the humble hefe in much of Germany, was actually outlawed in Bavaria about 500 years ago by the legendary German purity codes for beer (Reinheitsgebot). Only “purity” was not the motivation for passing the law. In reality, barley was seen as preferable for beer brewing only because it wasn’t acceptable for human consumption. You see, back in the 1500’s, Germany was still very susceptible to famine. Making sure that bread-worthy grains, like rye, were reserved for the bakers made living affordable for a lot of hungry Germans (fast-forward 500 years, they tout it as a “purity code”; guess sometimes you just have to save face). And You May Ask Yourself; Well, How Did Rye Get Here? Much like Megatron and Clay Aiken, the rye beer all but disappeared for hundreds of years. Lucky for us, a renegade German of a modern persuasion said: “to hell with the purity code!” and made himself some rye beer anyway. Owing to the craft beer explosion in the U.S., it’s now made all over the States and, like most things that come here from Europe (i.e. pizza), it’s been bastardized into something almost unrecognizable to the original. And also much, much better. Finally, Why Rye? Ryes can be pretty damn good, but why choose a rye when something more familiar is right there on the menu? Well, there’s plenty of reasons! Ryes are refreshing. They have less of the malty sweetness that barley beers tend to have. Consequently, they have much less of the malty sweetness that a wheat beer would offer. They taste a bit drier and snappier, albeit a bit less flavorful. It’s not an offensive flavor, either. It’s subtle to the point that you might not realize there’s something different about your beer. Taste it against a similar beer with barley or wheat malt and I’m sure you’ll be able to tell. Now, the difference between a RyePA and an IPA will be less pronounced than the difference between, say a maibock and a ryebock. This is because a mai/ryebock tends to derive more of its characteristic flavor from the malt, while an I/RyePA relies much more heavily on the hops for flavor. In any case, ryes are still pretty uncommon, so if you see one on the menu, it might be worth trying it just to take advantage of the opportunity. Remember, fortune favors the bold!

The post What’s In A Rye Beer? appeared first on Short Brews.

Kevin Short, Author at Short Brews

Barrel-Aged: All The Rage?

What’s In A Rye Beer?