Barrel aged beer has gone from being a secret beer nerd behind the counter, limited release occasional treat to a more regular occurrence. Bourbon distilleries use charred oak barrels to turn, basically moonshine into what we buy at the ABC store. As the potent alcohol sits in the oak, it pulls out color and hints of flavor. Once the bourbon is bottled the barrel is trash, only used once. That is until your local craft brewery comes by and offers to haul them away, or your hippie daughter turns them into rain water collection devices. Those oak barrels are capable of having the same affect on flavor for beer that it does on the whiskey, plus a little extra. This extra is what people commonly refer to as the boozy-ness of said beer. The pure alcohol flavor will drown out the subtle flavors, which can be rather disappointing. For this very reason, I try to buy two of a limited barrel release, one for now and one for later.
I went to Center of the Universe the friday they released this beer. I was there at 4 when they opened. I intended to have a glass and buy a bottle to save for later. I took my first sip and was blown away. The best of the barrel was present, and the earlier released Scotchtown had a lot fuller body. One of the owners came out and remarked "We tested it regularly, so it didn't go to far. If we wanted a beer that taste like bourbon we would have just bought bourbon." They only made 15 barrels or 30 kegs of this beer, and it was going to sell fast. I started to panic about when I could drink this again? ? ? I'm sure this will be in regular rotation. COTU has already moved on to their next release, Monkey's Uncle a Belgian Triple with lemon grass. Keep up with all the news at COTUbrewing.com.
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