beer NOLA

There’s something about aging a fluid in an oak barrel for a number of years that just makes it more awesome. And in the world of booze, just about everything that’s good and honest gets aged in an oak barrel by someone .. Whiskeys, rums, wines, etc. However beer is one of those things you never hear about getting aged.. but why not?

There’s been a growing trend in the past few years to take a beer and throw it in an oak barrel that was previously used to age some form of Whiskey. My first serious consumption of a serious attempt at oak aged beer was in Boston a couple years back when the Harpoon Brewery decided to take some of their 100 Barrel Series Barleywine and throw it in 4 different Bourbon casks: Jim Beam, Four Roses, Wild Turkey and Makers Mark. I was immediately hooked. You got the wonderful in your face slam and beer big taste of a Barleywine but with some of the more subtle flavors of a good Bourbon like vanilla, honey and peat.

It’s a pretty niche beverage .. after-all, Bourbon and Scotch drinkers usually can’t be bothered to drink beer, leaving it to a subset of craft beer geeks to drink the drink. So while I’ve had about six or seven Bourbon aged beers in the past couple years, I’ve never had one that was aged in a Scotch barrel. Most Scotches are aged in previously used Bourbon barrels .. so the difference in taste between Bourbon and Scotch should be pretty similar with a beer aged in Bourbon vs Scotch barrels: more earth and peaty flavors with a bit more of an astringent mouth feel.

So if you like beer, and you like Scotch, and you wanna see what would happen if the twain shall meet, then check out some of these new beers are are now available in New Orleans at Martin Wine Cellar and Stein’s Deli.

• Harviestoun Ola Dubh Special 12 Reserve
• Harviestoun Ola Dubh Special 16 Reserve
• Harviestoun Ola Dubh Special 30 Reserve
• J.W. Lees Harvest Ale (Aged in Calvados Casks)
• J.W. Lees Harvest Ale (Aged in Lagavulin Whiskey Casks)

The Harviestoun Ola Dubh series are all aged in Scotch barrels that were previously used to age Highland Park Scotch for the number of years indicated in the beer’s name. So that Special 12 Reserve should pickup some of the remaining sweeter and more vanilla-y flavors that you find in younger barrels, whereas the Special 30 Reserve should have a more earthy, oaky, peaty taste to it. There’s also the J.W. Lees Harvest Ale (a Barleywine style) aged in a Lagavulin (Scotch) barrel and a Calvados (Apple Brandy) barrel.

I haven’t had any of these yet, though I just picked up a bottle of the J.W. Lee Harvest Ale in Lagavulin cask and will be picking up one of the Harviestoun.