Roll Out The Barrels

BY DAVID NUTTALL

Trial and Ale brewing

Although beer has been stored

and aged in wooden barrels for hundreds of years, as stainless steel grew in popularity though the 20th century, tanks and kegs followed suit and except for a few locations in Europe, wood was abandoned.

Big Brewing had no need for something that was more porous, expensive, and difficult to clean; wooden barrels became so unpopular, the profession of being a cooper (those who repair and make barrels) almost perished. There was even a time when wineries and distilleries often gave obsolete barrels away.

At the time, very few breweries outside Europe had a barrel program. But a funny thing happened on the way to the 21st century. Winery numbers began to explode starting in the 1960s in the U.S. and 20 years later in Canada. Craft beer took off in the mid-1980s, and distilleries followed as the 2000s dawned. While wineries and distilleries are the main users of wooden barrels, craft breweries noticed the excess of unwanted containers, and began to reuse them, even if the barrels were no longer free.

As American craft breweries started diving into barrel-aging beer in the 1990s, they commonly selected higher gravity beers, such as scotch ales, barley wines, imperial stouts, Belgian strongs, and others that would mellow as they aged. Sour beers were not yet a marketable style and were only found in the import section of liquor stores. In 2000, none of Canada's 85 or so breweries, including the 8 breweries in Alberta, had a serious barrel program. Even when we last visited this topic in 2018 (Beer is a Barrel of Fun, Culinaire, January/February 2018), only a handful had ever made a barrel aged beer.

This began to change as the number of breweries increased. Soon, more brewers were experimenting with more styles of beer, and as the barrel supply increased so did the variety of barrel aged beers; even sours suddenly became popular. In the past, new breweries often waited years before they ever put beer in a barrel; now they are doing it even before opening.

In 2020, two new breweries in Edmonton began brewing beers solely to be matured or fermented in barrels. Trial and Ale and Blind Enthusiasm’s Monolith create complex and unique beers that require time before consumption. In Calgary, The Establishment Brewing Co. opened in 2019 with barrels at the ready, and now release several different beers a year.

Of course, not every brewery employs a barrel program. Barrels aren’t cheap (anywhere from $500 to $2,000 each), hold back inventory for months (or even years), and take up valuable space in the brewery. However as breweries evolve, they are always keen to add more recipes to their menu, and barrel aging adds a new (if time consuming) dimension to brewing.

Nevertheless, not every beer is “barrel ready”. Barrel aging imparts its own characteristics on a brew, and not all beers benefit from that alteration, although some beers can be “spliced” off from the normal run and put into wood, while the rest goes to market. Other beers require unique recipes that are

intended to age. Often they have higher residual sugars and employ longer boils to increase the original gravity and extract unique flavours while held in wood. Some of this is part science, part art, with a modicum of luck and careful tending before releasing.

Among the many factors that can influence the beer are: • Length of time in the barrel • The kind and quality of the wood used • Whether the barrel is new or used • If used, what was previously in the barrel • The age of the barrel • The level of char of the barrel • Conditions of storage within the facility (temperature and humidity) • Size of barrel

A change in any one of these aspects will influence the final product. In addition, the brewer can blend different barrels together, combine older vintages with newer beer, or add bacteria, fruit, spices, herbs, or anything else they desire. Calgary's Zero Issue Brewing produces a series of barrel aged Russian Imperial stouts with different additions like maple syrup, vanilla, and blackcurrant.

Brewers look for a variety of barrels, which allows them to produce a greater variety and amount of each beer. Blindman Brewing, of Lacombe, has a 3,000 litre foeder (literally, Dutch for big *ss barrel; most barrels are about 200 litres, but can be as small as 60 litres). Fernie Brewing (B.C.) owns multiple barrels which used to contain white or red wine, tequila, rum, whiskey, and more. Similarly Calgary’s Prairie Dog Brewing has been accruing multiple barrels for about two years for their high gravity and sour beers.

Since these beers are always limited in availability, they only account for a tiny proportion of a brewery's output, yet are often celebrated as some of their finest products. This has no doubt increased a brewery's recognition. The Establishment (2021) and Common Crown Brewing Co. (2020), both with barrel programs, won the Canadian Beer Awards Brewery of the Year. There are now more breweries using barrels than there is space in this article, so see if your favourite local has any barrel fermented or aged beers available.

Monolith Brewing

Bri Vos Detour Photography

The Establishment

David has worked in liquor since the late 1980s. He is a freelance writer, beer judge, speaker, and since 2014, has run Brew Ed monthly beer education classes in Calgary. Follow @abfbrewed.

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