Barrel-Aged Belgians
With the exception of Lambics, Flanders ales and other “wild” beers – which are always aged in barrels – Belgian brewers have not embraced barrel-aging to the extent that their American counterparts have. That, however, is changing.
On my last trip to Belgium I saw many more barrel-aged beers than on previous trips. I tasted them there and brought back as many as my suitcase could hold. In particular, I fell in love with the barrel-aged beers from Chimay. They do a triple-fermented special bottling of a stronger version (10.5% ABV) of their blue-label Grande Reserve. Their first annual release was in 2015. In 2016, the beer was aged in cognac casks with oak and chestnut staves. In 2017, the beer was aged in rum casks. In 2018, it matured in Belgian Owl whisky casks. 2019 saw French and American oak casks, and the 2020 version was finished in Armagnac barrels. The 2021 version will again feature rum barrels.
Other Belgian Barrel-Aged Beers include:
Embrasse Peated Oak Aged Ale - Brouwerij De Doctor der Korenaar
Gulden Draak Brewmaster Barrel Aged in Whisky Barrels - Van Steenberge
Abt 12 Barrel-aged - Sint Bernardus
Straffe Hendrik Barrel-Aged Quadruple - Brouwerij de Halve Maan
Duvel Barrel-Aged, Bourbon and Rum editions - Duvel Moortgat
Saison Dupont, Barrel-Aged – Brasserie Dupont
St. Feuillien Barrel aged Tripel – St Feuillien
Cuvee de Mortagne – Brouwerij Alvinne
The Oak Melchior Special Edition Pur Sang - Brouwerij Alvinne
Bink Winterkoninkske Grand Cru (American Oak) – Brauwerij Kerkom
Barrel-aged Beers Are a Thing in Belgium Now
Black Damnation XVIII Major Tom – Struise Brouwers
Delirium Black Bourbon Barrel Aged – Brouwerij Huyghe
Delirium Blonde Barrel Aged – Brouwerij Huyghe
Triple Impériale Cognac Barrel Aged – Abbaye des Rocs
Vanhonsebrouck Trignac Aged in Cognac Casks - Kasteel Brouwerij
Monte Cristo Sherrywood Cuvee – Brouwerij Bosteels
Dead Man’s Hand Imperial Stout Aquavit Barrel Aged – Brouwerij Het Nest
De Noël Cognac Barrel Aged – Brouwerij des Légendes Quintine
Brouwers Pannepot Reserva Quadrupel - Struise Brouwers
Bruz Barrel-Aged Beers
In addition to these Belgian examples, there are quite a few (too many to list here) American craft Belgian-style beers that are aged in a variety of barrel types.
At Bruz Beers, we use a number of barrel types, including bourbon, port, rum, tequila, red wine, white wine, rye whiskey and cognac. We predominately barrel-age our stronger beers – Quadrupels, Tripels, Strong Golden Ales, Dubbels and Strong Stouts. Funky Saisons and various sour beers are also barrel-aged.
Barrel-aged beers will continue to grow as a trend in Belgium and we can look to see more of them in the U.S. as well. Done right, barrel-aging can take great beers to even greater levels of complexity. Sante!