Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale aging quietly. Photo: Brian Yaeger
September is National Bourbon Heritage Month. For real. One Kentucky senator convinced the other 99 US senators to go along with this (I'm sure buying their votes cost him a mint...julep) so what better way to celebrate America's "native spirit" than to look at how it's affecting beer?!
About a week before the Great American Beer Festival, from Sept 15-20, is the Kentucky Bourbon Festival in Bardstown, KY in Bourbon County, the start of the Bourbon Trail. Nowadays though, bourbon (a type of whiskey) benefits beer beyond as a choice of shot for a boilermaker.
The longer bourbon sits in new charred oak barrels, the deeper its character. And several bourbon whiskeys spend well over a decade mellowing on oak. Hundreds of craft breweries have barrel-aging programs or have at least experimented with wood. Distillers used to view spent barrels as waste, mulching them or selling them for cheap at best. Now they see almost as much return on spent barrels as they spend on new ones. And by law, bourbon barrels can only be filled once. That's good news for adventurous American brewers.
Ranging from pedestrian Jim Beam barrels that age bourbon for about four years to pricey Pappy Van Winkle barrels that mature for 23 years, bourbon-aging beers often imparts rich, heady flavors of vanilla, caramel, oak, toast (and of course bourbon) to a variety of already flavorful beers, but most commonly is used for porters, stouts, or imperial stouts.One of my favorite examples hails from, not surprisingly, Kentucky. Alltech's Lexington Brewing Co. has the benefit of procuring the freshest, wet barrels and quickly fills them with their Kentucky Ale, resulting in liquid gorgeousness. The problem is that it is only sold in Kentucky.
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Two other standouts are readily available at finer beer retailers in the Bay Area. Allagash Curieux from Portland, ME is a Belgian Tripel and is generally $17 (750 ml). Goose Island Bourbon County Stout from Chicago is an Imperial Stout and runs about $5 (12 oz.) While both pack over 10% ABV, don't expect them to look, smell, or taste the same.
For beers that have been blessed by the "angel's share" of this spirit brewed closer to home, local brewpubs Thirsty Bear (sometimes) and Magnolia Pub (often) have one on tap. If you're looking to take a bottle to a friend's place, North Coast's Old Rasputin XII (Imperial Stout) makes a great gift and augments any dessert. Unless you buy it from the brewery up in Ft. Bragg, it'll run you about $22 (500 ml).
With the heat wave over, any bourbon aged brew is a great way to burn off the chilly fog outside--while creating a warm fog internally.
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Not only does Brian Yaeger write for Examiner.com, but we have dozens of other craft beer experts covering hops and barley. Follow their coverage throughout September of one of the world's largest beer festivals. Click here for National Beer Examiner and Great American Beer Festival founder Charlie Papazian's take on beer, GABF articles and details on how you can win tickets to the festival!
Comments
Was treated to a "shot" of the Rasputin barrel aged stout at the brewery, WOW talk about Bourbon with Bubbles!
We have a nice Bourbon Stout here that is made by the Tyranena Brewery- it's potent!
I actually had a Bourbon County Stout on Tuesday. I guess something in me told me it was a good day to have a bourbon aged beer.
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