# Aged and Oaked Beers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** beer\ **Created:** [January 15, 2008, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aged-and-oaked-beers/433578 "2008-01-15T04:36:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aged-and-oaked-beers/433578/21 "2008-01-17T00:33:07Z")
My sister gave me a 6 of “Arrogant Bastard Ale” and all I could think of while drinking it was the joke about “the shit-house door on a tuna boat”. Pretty awful. Cleaver marketing strategy is a poor excuse to peddle bad beer. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aged-and-oaked-beers/433578/22 "2008-01-17T02:07:21Z")
One of the best beers I’ve ever had is Allagash’s Curieux. It’s their Belgian-style tripel, aged in bourbon casks. It’s about 10% alcohol, and has this wonderful flavor of fire and vanilla. Amazing stuff. Goose Island also has some interesting cask-aged beers, including their Bourbon County Stout. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aged-and-oaked-beers/433578/23 "2008-01-17T03:46:12Z")
What a bunch of inflated, pretentious, commercial pap… beer should never come from a whiskey barrel nor any flamed cask that imparts some unnatural flavoring and color. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aged-and-oaked-beers/433578/24 "2008-01-17T03:51:45Z")
[QUOTE=devilsknew] What a bunch of inflated, pretentious, commercial pap… beer should never come from a whiskey barrel nor any flamed cask that imparts some unnatural flavoring and color. [/QUOTE] That’s fine, you stick with your Reinheitsgebot then. I already commit beer “heresy” in the eyes of some by adding Belgian candi sugar, honey, spices, wheat… putting it in a different vessel seems barely worth mentioning. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aged-and-oaked-beers/433578/25 "2008-01-17T05:20:05Z")
[QUOTE=Christopher] If you would like the opinion of a former Chicagoan, it is some of the worst Chicago-sytle pizza I have ever had. [/QUOTE] It’s Chicago style pizza in the same way my lint roller is Chicago style pizza. ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aged-and-oaked-beers/433578/26 "2008-01-17T05:36:10Z")
[QUOTE=devilsknew] What a bunch of inflated, pretentious, commercial pap… beer should never come from a whiskey barrel nor any flamed cask that imparts some unnatural flavoring and color. [/QUOTE] The barrels used are mostly neutral and won’t impart much oak flavor or flavors associated with oak barrels. Definitely the case for Russian River brews, of which only a handful are actually aged in barrel - mostly their sour ales although there are a couple of Blondes and Browns aged in oak. The sour ales get much more from the Brett that lives in the barrels than from the oak. Wine barrels only have about a 4 or 5 year lifespan before they become neutral. I would expect a whiskey barrel to impart some whiskey flavors, but the oak would still become neutral after 4 or 5 years. As you might guess based on my location, I’m pretty familiar with RRBC’s brews. The brewpub is a regular haunt for my husband and me. I used to work with one of the owners and my husband loves to get tips and advice from her husband Vinnie for our homebrews. ---
**Author:** ![RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/53a042/32.png) [@RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RancidYakButterTeaParty)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aged-and-oaked-beers/433578/27 "2008-01-17T12:23:13Z")
[QUOTE=psycat90] The barrels used are mostly neutral and won’t impart much oak flavor or flavors associated with oak barrels. Definitely the case for Russian River brews, of which only a handful are actually aged in barrel - mostly their sour ales although there are a couple of Blondes and Browns aged in oak. The sour ales get much more from the Brett that lives in the barrels than from the oak. Wine barrels only have about a 4 or 5 year lifespan before they become neutral. I would expect a whiskey barrel to impart some whiskey flavors, but the oak would still become neutral after 4 or 5 years. As you might guess based on my location, I’m pretty familiar with RRBC’s brews. The brewpub is a regular haunt for my husband and me. I used to work with one of the owners and my husband loves to get tips and advice from her husband Vinnie for our homebrews. [/QUOTE] How lucky you are. Please tell Vinnie that Rancidyakbutterteaparty loves his beers, and urges him to start distributing them to Ohio so I won’t have to go to such crazy lengths to get my hands on them. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aged-and-oaked-beers/433578/28 "2008-01-18T15:05:36Z")
[QUOTE=RancidYakButterTeaParty] Actually, the consistency of beer produced by Budweiser is pretty amazing. I don’t like the taste of their product, but the fact that it is produced so consistently at different locations all over the U.S. is impressive. Their use of additives is a cost saving measure that obviously affects flavor, but really has nothing to do with consistency. [/QUOTE] I have no doubt that Budweiser is consistent, which can be tough when making almost flavorless beers. Using precise formulations of certain ingredients has **everything** to do with that. Using more traditional methods might produce better beer, but usually sacrifices consistency. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aged-and-oaked-beers/433578/29 "2008-01-18T15:14:48Z")
[QUOTE=RancidYakButterTeaParty] How lucky you are. Please tell Vinnie that Rancidyakbutterteaparty loves his beers, and urges him to start distributing them to Ohio so I won’t have to go to such crazy lengths to get my hands on them. [/QUOTE] If you’re ever out out this way, give me some warning and we’ll take you to RR and introduce you. I’ve known Vinnie since he was a pup. He and his dad used to host the Southern California Homebrew Festival at their place in Temecula, before it got so freaking huge that we had to move it to a park. Nice guy, and one helluva brewer. ---
**Author:** ![RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/53a042/32.png) [@RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RancidYakButterTeaParty)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aged-and-oaked-beers/433578/30 "2008-01-18T15:17:53Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] If you’re ever out out this way, give me some warning and we’ll take you to RR and introduce you. I’ve known Vinnie since he was a pup. He and his dad used to host the Southern California Homebrew Festival at their place in Temecula, before it got so freaking huge that we had to move it to a park. Nice guy, and one helluva brewer. [/QUOTE] Great! Thanks for the invitation. There is a slight chance that I might head out later this summer. If so, I’ll be sure to let you know. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aged-and-oaked-beers/433578/31 "2008-01-21T03:16:29Z")
[QUOTE=Ferret Herder] I already commit beer “heresy” in the eyes of some by adding Belgian candi sugar, honey, spices, wheat… [/QUOTE] He he! I discovered while bottling my last batch of homebrew that I was out of priming sugar, so just dumped in some powered sugar from the pantry! Well, I can say now, that wasn’t such a good result! When I pop the flip-top, it reacts like Mentos in Pepsi! 😃 Once the foam dies, the bottom half of the bottle tastes damn fine! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aged-and-oaked-beers/433578/32 "2008-01-22T04:53:19Z")
and that’s why you get a kegerator- no more worries about refementation, no two week wait, no bottlecaps to cinch down- just fill up the keg, charge it up, and 8 hours later, you’ve got ready to drink beer. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aged-and-oaked-beers/433578/33 "2008-01-22T04:55:11Z")
oh, and had Dogfishead’s Burton Baton oak-aged Imperial IPA. Eh, it was good, but not worth the $4.50. Which was disappointing, as their beers usually are worth it, even the 120 minute IPA at $10. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aged-and-oaked-beers/433578/34 "2008-01-22T19:36:46Z")
[QUOTE=devilsknew] What a bunch of inflated, pretentious, commercial pap… beer should never come from a whiskey barrel nor any flamed cask that imparts some unnatural flavoring and color. [/QUOTE] Beer should taste good. That is all. Being a former homebrewer, I do know that while Reinheitsgebot beers are great, the concept seems to draw to it the most pretentious wankers in the hobby. The German purity laws are sensible for good, consistent, quality beer. But they are not everything. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aged-and-oaked-beers/433578.md?page=1)