Barrel Aged Beer - BA Craft Beer
At Hop-In we specialize in wood-aged, or barrel aged, beers. These are beers, mainly stouts and barley wines, that are placed in barrels that previously held another drink. Scotch whiskey or American bourbon barrels are often used. For example, this combination goes very well with a strong stout. The beer gets the extra flavors from the keg. The chocolate and coffee notes of the beer are complemented by complex notes of vanilla, wood, leather, smoke (if it is a peated whiskey), and much more. This all depends on the drink that has been on the keg, the quality and freshness of the keg, the quality of the beer, etc.
As said, we see that stouts and barley wines are preferred. These sturdy beers lend themselves well to this process, and also in terms of taste, these beers combine nicely with the extra complexity that a wood bearing can give. But there is a lot of experimentation in the beer world, and other beer styles are becoming more and more common, such as the tripel, saison, (baltic) porter and even the IPA!
The most popular barrels to use are oak barrels, which previously held whiskey or bourbon. In recent years, however, we have seen that all kinds of drinks are coming along, each with their own flavor transfer to the beer. Think of wine barrels (both red and white), rum, cognac, and gin as the most popular types of barrels to use.
View our range of barrel aged beers below!