THE DRAYMAN

Roll out the barrels

Evidence of oak was once seen as a fault in wood-aged beer. But it can be a boon

This year is a landmark one for two Scottish beer producers with a fascination for barrel-ageing. Naturally, for both Innis & Gunn and Harviestoun, casks from the Scotch whisky industry feature prominently in their operations.

Indeed, for Dougal Sharp at Innis & Gunn, the passion for cask-aged beer began when he was approached by William Grant to supply an ale for the distiller to season casks for a beer-aged whisky. But, he thought, what if we did it the other way round?

Historically, oak was used to make fermentation vessels in the years before stainless steel ubiquity, but any transfer of woody flavour into the beer was considered to be a fault.

“If oak of many different provenances and fillings can add such complexity and intrigue to whiskies and wines, then why should the same not be true for beer?” says Sharp, quite reasonably, of his epiphany.

That was 20 years ago, and Innis & Gunn has since become the UK’s most prominent wood-aged beer specialist.

As for Harviestoun, the brewer celebrates its 40th birthday this year. Its Ola Dubh stout, aged in Highland Park whisky barrels, has become recognised as a modern British brewing classic.

As you might expect, both anniversaries will be marked by special products. Innis & Gunn’s The Original: XX Edition has been matured in Speyside whisky casks that were laid down in the year it was founded.

Harviestoun’s 40-year-old expression of Ola Dubh will commemorate the early exploits of home brewer Ken Brooker, who for the first three years made beer in his shed before a proper brewery was built. Stuart Cail was its master brewer for 25 years until Amy Cockburn took over the reins last year.

Harviestoun was ploughing the craft beer furrow before it had even been given the name and Innis & Gunn was also early to the party, predating Brewdog by four years.

It’s hard to recall that when Sharp was cranking up his fledgling wood-ageing operation it was pretty much virgin territory for the industry, in the UK at least. Matters weren’t helped by HMRC indecision on how such beers should be taxed, an impasse that for a while stopped early experiments by Fuller’s coming to the market.

Both that and internal industry squabbles about wood-ageing definitions have been ironed out over time, and I&G and Harviestoun are by no means alone in pushing the boundaries.

Derbyshire’s Thornbridge currently has versions of its Necessary Evil stout aged in triple sec, Calvados and Pedro Ximenez casks, among others.

Adnams’ Both Barrels is the Suffolk brewer’s Broadside ale aged in ex-bourbon casks over an added twist of a layer of cherries.

As with oak-aged Chardonnay, punchy vanilla is a typical woody beer characteristic, but the whisky origins that prevail in Broadside’s maturation regimes also bring smokiness, rich dried fruit and marmalade flavours to the fore. It makes for beers with wonderful layered complexity that change both over time in the bottle and once cracked open.

In a craft beer landscape where generic session pales increasingly dominate, woodaged beers offer genuine excitement. It may be two decades since Innis & Gunn helped break down the door, but it feels like the fun is only just beginning.

Barbara

Barbara Widmer is holding court on the 55th floor of a Docklands skyscraper, where the vibe is anything but Tuscan, but the wines she’s pouring give an authentic taste of home.

Yet there’s a gentle Germanic, rather than Italian, lilt to her accent. “We are a Swiss family and we came to Tuscany because my parents had the dream of a holiday house in Tuscany,” she says. “They purchased the house in 1981. It was in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by some vineyards. So they had a new hobby –which became my work.”

Barbara studied architecture at university and still retains an interest in design. “Sometimes it’s better to have certain things as a hobby, not as a profession,” she says. “If you come to the winery, some of the furniture we have is designed by me.”

In addition, she designed Brancaia’s Maremma winery, which she describes as “simple and functional”. The winery in Chianti Classico was transformed by her architectural skills. “I changed it a lot, but it was not my design from scratch,” she says.

Clearly, she’s keener to talk about her wines. “I like the idea that wines are here to enjoy,” she says. “Making wine is always a challenge. But every year, you learn something more. I always think the most exciting vintage is the next one.”

Rosé 2022, Organic

The only rosé in the Brancaia portfolio is made with early-harvested Merlot from Maremma vineyards. “It’s on the lighter side, but it’s got structure,” Barbara says. That’s partly due to three months spent on the lees.

It’s an elegant and uncomplicated wine, with faint notes of rhubarb and orange in addition to red fruits. In a world of boring