beer
Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
that has been aged for a period of time in a
wooden barrel
A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, u ...
. Typically, these barrels once housed bourbon, whisky, wine, or, to a lesser extent, brandy, sherry, or port.Craft Beer and Brewing. ''Barrel-aging.'' Retrieved 21 April 2020. There is a particular tradition of barrel ageing beer in
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
in the early 1990s.
Beers can be aged in barrels to achieve a variety of effects, such as imparting flavours from the wood (from
tannin
Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids.
The term ''tannin'' (from Anglo-Norman ''tanner'' ...
s and
lactone
Lactones are cyclic carboxylic esters, containing a 1-oxacycloalkan-2-one structure (), or analogues having unsaturation or heteroatoms replacing one or more carbon atoms of the ring.
Lactones are formed by intramolecular esterification of the co ...
s) or from the previous contents of the barrels, or causing a
Brettanomyces
''Brettanomyces'' is a non-spore forming genus of yeast in the family Saccharomycetaceae, and is often colloquially referred to as "Brett". The genus name ''Dekkera'' is used interchangeably with ''Brettanomyces'', as it describes the teleomorp ...
fermentation. Oak remains the wood of choice, but other woods are in use as well. Chestnut, ash, poplar, cedar, acacia, cypress, redwood, pine, and even eucalyptus have been used for barrel-ageing with varying success.
The flavours imparted by oak barrels differ widely depending on the oak species, the growing area, and how the wood has been treated. New oak barrels can be used for ageing beer, but they are not common due to high costs. Some flavours that new oak will contribute are wood, vanilla, dill, spice, and toastiness.
History
Lambics have been brewed in Belgium's Zenne Valley and
Pajottenland
The Pajottenland (in English occasionally Payottenland) is a distinct region within the Flemish Brabant province and the south-western part of the Brussels Region of Belgium. The region is located west-southwest of Brussels. The Pajottenland is pre ...
since the 13th century. There were at least 300 lambic makers in the region in 1900, both in Brussels and in the countryside.All About Beer Magazine. ''IN SEARCH OF LAMBIC.'' Retrieved 21 April 2020.Timmermans is one of the oldest existing breweries, dating back to 1702, and the production of the blended lambic derivative
gueuze
Gueuze (Dutch ''geuze'', ; French ''gueuze'', ) is a type of lambic, a Belgian beer. It is made by blending young (1-year-old) and old (2- to 3-year-old) lambics, which is bottled for a second fermentation. Because the young lambics are no ...
is believed to have started in the same year.Eugene Rodenbach started brewing
Flanders red ale
Flanders red ale or Flemish red-brown, is a style of sour ale brewed in West Flanders, Belgium.
Flanders red ale is fermented with organisms other than ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'', especially ''Lactobacillus'', which produces a sour characte ...
in the 19th century, after learning how to "ripen" beer in oak barrels in England.Adrian Tierney-Jones. ''1001 Beers: You Must Try Before You Die.'' Retrieved 21 April 2020. Rodenbach Classic contains a blend of young beer with beer matured on oak for two years, whereas Rodenbach Vintage consists entirely of beer that has matured for two years in one selected foeder. Another Belgian sour beer style, Oud bruin is not typically barrel-aged, although there are some examples from both Belgium and North America.
In the German town of Bamberg,
smoked beer
Smoked beer (german: Rauchbier) is a type of beer with a distinctive smoke flavour imparted by using malted barley dried over an open flame.''Beer'', by Michael Jackson, published 1998, pp.150-151
History
Drying malt over an open flame in a sm ...
or ''Rauchbier'' has been tapped directly from oakwood casks at the
Schlenkerla
Schlenkerla is a historic brewpub in Bamberg, Franconia, Germany renowned for its Smoking (cooking), smoked Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier.
Beers
Aecht Schlenkerla is recognized for making traditional Rauchbier (smoked beer) including Bock, urb ...
tavern since the 15th century.
Greene King
Greene King is a large pub retailer and brewer. It is based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. The company owns pubs, restaurants and hotels. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by CK Assets in October 2019.
H ...
's Strong Suffolk Ale is an example of an 18th century "country beer". It is blended from ''Old 5X'', which is aged for two years in oak tuns. Large oak vats were once the norm for fermentation and storage of beer in England, a fact made notorious when one of these burst in London in 1814, killing eight people.
In the United States, the historic
Ballantine Brewery
P. Ballantine and Sons Brewing Company was an American brewery founded in 1840, making Ballantine one of the oldest brands of beer in the United States. At its peak, it was the 3rd largest brewer in the US. The brand is currently owned and ope ...
aged their beer in wooden vats for up to a year. They were originally
made of oak, and later of cypress wood.Craft Beer and Brewing. ''Oak.'' Retrieved 21 April 2020. 20th century beer writer
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
characterised Ballantine IPA as "wonderfully distinctive, an outstanding American ale unique in its fidelity to the East Coast tradition of Colonial ales."
In the era of craft beer, some breweries produce exclusively barrel-aged beers, notably Belgian lambic producer Cantillon, and
sour beer
Sour beer, also known as Sours, is beer which has an intentionally acidic, tart, or sour taste. Traditional sour beer styles include Belgian lambics, gueuze and Flanders red ale, and German gose and Berliner Weisse.
Brewing
Unlike modern bre ...
company
The Rare Barrel
The Rare Barrel is a brewery and brewpub in Berkeley, California, United States, that exclusively produces sour beers.
History
Founders Jay Goodwin and Alex Wallash met while attending UCSB. They started home-brewing in their apartment and decided ...
. Others also specialise in barrel-ageing particular beer styles, such as Põhjala which has a focus on
Baltic porter
Porter is a style of beer that was developed in London, England in the early 18th century. It was well- hopped and dark in appearance owing to the use of brown malt.Dornbusch, Horst, and Garrett Oliver. "Porter." The Oxford Companion to Beer ...
s and Jester King with its Méthode Traditionnelle.The New York Times. ''American Beers With a Pungent Whiff of Place.'' Retrieved 21 April 2020. International craft brewer,
Mikkeller
Mikkeller is a microbrewery founded in 2006 in Copenhagen, Denmark that was originally based on the so-called "cuckoo", "phantom" or " gypsy" ethos; that is, the company did not operate an official brewery and, instead, collaborated with other b ...
operates a custom barrel-ageing facility at an old shipyard in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
,
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark
, establish ...
.
In 2016, ''Craft Beer and Brewing'' wrote that "barrel-aged beers are so trendy that nearly every taphouse and beer store has a section of them. ''Food and Wine'' wrote in 2018: "A process that was once niche has become not just mainstream, but ubiquitous."
Lambic beers of Belgium
Lambics are fermented and aged in wooden barrels similar to those used to ferment
wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
. The
microflora
Microbiota are the range of microorganisms that may be commensal, symbiotic, or pathogenic found in and on all multicellular organisms, including plants. Microbiota include bacteria, archaea, protists, fungi, and viruses, and have been found to ...
from the wood contribute to a
spontaneous fermentation
Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...
and brewing activity was concentrated on the colder months of the year to avoid spoilage. The barrels used by traditional Belgian lambic breweries can be up to 150 years old, and the lambic ageing process typically lasts from one to three years. Willem Van Herreweghen of Timmermans said: "We have oak and chestnut barrels. Chestnut is neutral and imparts no taste to the lambic. Oak gives a vanilla-like flavour usually described as 'oaky' and, of course, this is the most common type of wood used by lambic makers."Celebrator Beer News Magazine. ''Brouwerij Timmermans — The World’s Oldest Lambic Brewery.'' Retrieved 21 April 2020.
New barrels are rarely used by lambic brewers - instead used barrels are procured from the wine regions of Spain, Portugal, Greece, and especially France. The wooden barrels come in three different sizes: Brussels tuns (approx. 250 litres), pipes (approx. 600 litres) and foeders (foudres in French) with a capacity of up to 10,000 litres and even larger. Most pipes are used
port wine
Port wine (also known as vinho do Porto, , or simply port) is a Portuguese wine, Portuguese fortified wine produced in the Douro, Douro Valley of Norte, Portugal, northern Portugal. It is typically a sweetness of wine, sweet red wine, often ...
barrels that came into wide use in lambic production after World War I when port became a popular drink in Belgium. Every brewery has also bought barrels from colleagues who have stopped production, as evidenced by their markings.
Some American craft breweries have started producing their own versions of the traditional Belgian barrel-aged gueuze. In 2016 Jester King Brewery released a blended, spontaneously fermented beer which it labelled as "Méthode Gueuze." However, the
High Council for Artisanal Lambic Beers __NOTOC__
The High Council for Artisanal Lambic Beers ( Dutch: ''Hoge Raad voor Ambachtelijke Lambiekbieren'', HORAL) is a non-profit organisation that brings together the gueuze brewers and blenders of the Pajottenland and Zenne Valley in Belgiu ...
(HORAL) objected to the name, and the two parties arranged a meeting in Belgium. It was agreed that in future the American brewers would use the designation "Méthode Traditionelle".
Many beers are aged in barrels which were previously used for maturing
spirits
Spirit or spirits may refer to:
Liquor and other volatile liquids
* Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks
* Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol
* Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...
.
Imperial stout
Stout is a dark, top-fermented beer with a number of variations, including dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout, and imperial stout.
The first known use of the word ''stout'' for beer, in a document dated 1677 found in the Egerton Manuscript ...
s are often aged in bourbon barrels, which impart flavours of American oak (coconut, dill, sweet spices), accentuated by
charring Charring is a chemical process of incomplete combustion of certain solids when subjected to high heat. Heat distillation removes water vapour and volatile organic compounds ( syngas) from the matrix. The residual black carbon material is char, as ...
of the barrel interior.The Grainfather. "Barrel Aged Imperial Stout – Part 4: Selecting the right wood." Retrieved 21 April 2020. Bourbon barrels are by far the most common oak barrels used by brewers in the United States. Each distillery uses its own blend of oak and its own level of charring, leading to distinct differences in the sorts of flavours that brewers can derive from the used barrels.
By US law, "straight bourbon" must be aged in new American white oak barrels. This means that a barrel can only be used once to age true bourbon whiskey, a fact that turns a used barrel into a surplus item for a bourbon distillery.Goose Island's Bourbon County Stout was one of the first bourbon barrel-aged beers. It was first produced by Greg Hall in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
in 1992, when
Jim Beam
Jim Beam is an American brand of bourbon whiskey produced in Clermont, Kentucky, by Beam Suntory. It is one of the best-selling brands of bourbon in the world. Since 1795 (interrupted by Prohibition in the United States, Prohibition), seven gene ...
gave the brewer a couple of used barrels. Goose Island's Brett Porter said: "We let the warehouse run to Chicago temperatures—cold winters, followed by hot humid summers—that causes the staves in our bourbon barrels to bring in and then force out liquid, and that's where the flavour comes from."Punchdrink.com "The Next Frontier in Barrel-Aged Craft Beer." Retrieved 21 April 2020. Chicago also hosts an annual Festival of Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer (FoBAB), the world's largest beer festival and competition of its kind.
Other breweries began following Goose Island's lead, typically ageing rich Imperial stouts. Some early successes were Founders KBS (Kentucky Breakfast Stout),
The Bruery
The Bruery is an American brewing company based in Placentia, California, founded by Patrick Rue and named as a fusion between his family name and the word "brewery". It opened in 2008 and has produced an average of 2,500 barrels of beer annua ...
Harviestoun
Harviestoun is an estate in Tillicoultry parish, Clackmannanshire, central Scotland. It lies at the base of the Ochil Hills, around east of Tillicoultry and west of Dollar.
History
The Harviestoun estate was bought in around 1780 by Edinburg ...
in Scotland to join forces with the Highland Park Scotch whisky distillery. The result was the Ola Dubh range of barrel-aged black ales, aged in whisky casks of varying ages up to 40 years. Chris Pilkington of Põhjala said "We’ve learned the best barrels give noticeably better results."
Since bourbon barrels are only used once, they are often sold on to producers of other spirits who eventually sell them on again to breweries for barrel-ageing beer. The Bruery, which specializes in experimental barrel-aged and sour beers, has used bourbon, rye, brandy, rum, tequila, Scotch whisky and many other spirit barrels to age beer for anywhere from six to eighteen months.
Wine barrel ageing
Unlike bourbon barrels, whose alcohol content kills off bacteria like
Lactobacillus
''Lactobacillus'' is a genus of Gram-positive, aerotolerant anaerobes or microaerophilic, rod-shaped, non-spore-forming bacteria. Until 2020, the genus ''Lactobacillus'' comprised over 260 phylogenetically, ecologically, and metabolically div ...
and
Pediococcus
''Pediococcus'' is a genus of gram-positive lactic acid bacteria, placed within the family of Lactobacillaceae. They usually occur in pairs or tetrads, and divide along two planes of symmetry, as do the other lactic acid cocci genera '' Aerococc ...
and the wild yeast
Brettanomyces
''Brettanomyces'' is a non-spore forming genus of yeast in the family Saccharomycetaceae, and is often colloquially referred to as "Brett". The genus name ''Dekkera'' is used interchangeably with ''Brettanomyces'', as it describes the teleomorp ...
, emptied wine barrels are often a breeding ground for them. While these microflora are considered a problem for most brewers and winemakers, they are essential in the creation of the many sour beer styles inspired by Belgium's sour ale tradition. Consequently most wine barrel-aged beers end up becoming saisons, wild ales and other acidic beer styles.Punchdrink.com. ''An Intro to Craft Beer’s Most Wine-Like Brews.'' Retrieved 21 April 2020.
The first American breweries to commit to wine barrel-aging were in California, led by Sonoma County's
Russian River Brewing Company
Russian River Brewing Company is a brewery and brewpub in downtown Santa Rosa, California, with a second location in Windsor. The company is known for strong India pale ales and sour beers.
History
Russian River Brewing Company was created in ...
. In 1997, brewmaster Vinnie Cilurzo began making a series of heavily wine-influenced beers, like Temptation (chardonnay barrels), Supplication (pinot noir) and Consecration (cabernet sauvignon).
In another wine region in Virginia, Brian Nelson, the head brewer at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery said: "Our goal with our wine barrel-aged beer is to promote the actual wine character to add to the already complex flavours and aromas in the beer. We look for fresh wine barrels that complement the style of beer that we want to age."Allagash's Brewing's Coolship range of beers are sponaneously fermented and aged in French oak wine barrels, for one to three years. "Coolship Cerise" is pale red in colour, after being aged on cherries for six months.
Wine barrels are usually made from French, American or sometimes Hungarian oak. French oak is denser, more mildly flavoured, and far more expensive than American oak, as its flavour contributions are thought to be more balanced.
Wood-ageing is a more manageable option than barrel-ageing for home brewers. They sometimes add cubes, chips or spirals of wood directly into their beers to add bitterness and character.Homebrewsupply.com. ''How to Use Oak in Homebrewing.'' Retrieved 21 April 2020. These products are also useful to commercial brewers desiring new wood flavours, and their beers are often labelled as "oak-aged." An example is Great Divide's Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout, which is aged on a blend of French and toasted oak chips.
Anheuser-Busch
Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV ( AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple ...
's flagship brand
Budweiser
Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, part of AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States.
''Budweiser'' may also refer to an unrela ...
is aged on American beechwood spirals which promote fermentation and speed up the ageing process.
In 2017
Innis & Gunn
Innis & Gunn is a beer brand based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded in 2003 by Master Brewer Dougal Gunn Sharp.
Innis & Gunn has contract brewed in Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city ...
decided that barrel ageing did not need to take place in a barrel and could be done in as little as five days. They attempted to redefine the term to include a forced, wood flavouring process that only they use and that the rest of the industry does not recognise as barrel-ageing. A backlash from other brewers using the term in its traditionally understood sense ensued and the outcome is, to date, unresolved.
The
Beer Judge Certification Program
The Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) is a non-profit organization formed in 1985 to recognize beer tasting and evaluation skills. The BJCP certifies and ranks beer judges through an examination and monitoring process.
Purpose
The BJCP has ...
(BJCP) has a category for wood-aged beer, which states:
:''This style is intended for beer aged in wood without added alcohol character from previous use of the barrel. Bourbon-barrel or other similar beers should be entered as a Specialty Wood-Aged Beer.''Beer Judge Certification Program. ''Wood-Aged Beer.'' Retrieved 21 April 2020.
Gallery of barrel-aged beers
File:Norwegian sour beer.jpg,
File:Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout.jpg,
File:Texasrangerbarrelaged.jpg,
File:North Coast Old Rasputin XII.jpg,
File:Astrid (33894301675) (cropped).JPG,
File:Stone Imperial Black IPA.jpg,
File:Great Divide Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti.jpg,
See also
*
Craft brewery and microbrewery
Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...
Brettanomyces bruxellensis
''Brettanomyces bruxellensis'' (the anamorph of ''Dekkera bruxellensis'') is a yeast associated with the Zenne, Senne valley near Brussels, Belgium. Despite its Latin species name, ''B. bruxellensis'' is found all over the globe. In the wild, it ...