NotYourPrince's blog post - Barrel-Aged Beers

I love beer. True, I am addicted to vodka martinis, but on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, I'm always at the fridge, looking for a Schneider Weisse or a Sierra Nevada.

I’m headed to the Denver Great American Beer Festival in Denver today to sample some new brews. I’m looking to try some of the barrel-aged beers coming on the market. The idea of beer aged in wine or whiskey barrels sounds pretty interesting. Sauvignon blanc has a great flavor; so does chardonnay. Using used wine, bourbon or rye barrels to age the beer means the beer will take on even more character. I know, why not just drink a glass of wine? Still, the idea of infusing the beer with these flavors, plus that of the oak barrel itself, sounds pretty interesting.




My father would call me a self-indulgent wiener. “What, Coors isn’t good enough for you anymore?” I prefer to think my tastes have just gotten more discriminating, that’s all, dad. Plus, barrel-aged beers tend to be pretty high in alcohol content; all the better for someone with advanced alcohol tolerance.




This will be the first time I've gone to go to the Denver beer festival. It’s gotten huge, just like the craft beer industry. As beer sales overall have remained flat, craft brewery beers have grown to something like 10% of the beer market. Colorado is one of the centers of that movement to craft beers with over 200 independent breweries. That’s a lot of beers to sample.



If you’ve already tried the barrel-aged beers, add a comment to this post. I’d like to hear what you think.