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!