Beer Styles for Rum-Barrel Aging

[KyleWolf]

Hi Everyone,

So, I have come into possession of a 5-gal rum barrel from a local distillery. I am totally stoked about doing this. But, I am at a bit of a loss as to a style that would be well suited for a rum barrel. I know I don't want to do a pumpkin ale. And I am hesitant to do an imperial stout because my buddy and myself already have plans to put my imperial stout recipe in a 10-gal whiskey barrel from the same distillery and we probably don't really need 15-gallons of imperial stout.

Doing a search for award-winning rum-barrel beers (that are not stouts or pumpkin ales) I don't get much info, but I did see a rum-barrel aged porter and a rum-barrel aged dubbel (Rum-Barrel aged- smoke from the oak porter from Captain Lawrence and Rum-Barrel aged Belgian Dubbel from 3 Brothers).

I am looking for some ideas to brainstorm with for this barrel-aged beer. I am thinking perhaps a spiced belgian strong dark/Quad could be a fun idea, but I don't have much experience with rum-barrled beers besides the pumpkin beers and occasional stout.

Anyways, I would love to hear some thoughts and ideas. Thanks in advance.

Kyle

 

[NibblesMN]

Three commercial rum barrel aged products:
1. Rum King, RIS from Indeed Brewing - I know you didn't need more RIS but trust me it works out brilliantly.
2. Kill Devil brown ale from Widmer's - The first rum barrel aged beer I had.
3. B. Nektar One-Eyed Ian - I never had the pleasure of this one. But I do make almost the same mead sans rum barrel myself, and I would rum age it if I had the barrel.

I think you see the theme. Age sweet beers in rum barrels. Nothing sour or too hoppy as it would likely make an odd combination. I think a quad would wonderfully. Here's a homebrewer who did just that.
http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2013/03/rum-barrel-aged-quad-tasting.html

 

[imasickboy]

English barleywine.

 

[KyleWolf]

Three commercial rum barrel aged products:
1. Rum King, RIS from Indeed Brewing - I know you didn't need more RIS but trust me it works out brilliantly.
2. Kill Devil brown ale from Widmer's - The first rum barrel aged beer I had.
3. B. Nektar One-Eyed Ian - I never had the pleasure of this one. But I do make almost the same mead sans rum barrel myself, and I would rum age it if I had the barrel.

I think you see the theme. Age sweet beers in rum barrels. Nothing sour or too hoppy as it would likely make an odd combination. I think a quad would wonderfully. Here's a homebrewer who did just that.
http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2013/03/rum-barrel-aged-quad-tasting.html

I did read up on that article, which kinda pushed me to side with a Quad over something like a dubbel. Though I personally wasn't a fan of the recipe itself, I trust the mad-fermentationist and his tasting notes.

The rum-barrel mead sounds freakin amazing and I know some people who I can source some local honey. I may have to look into that as a second brew to go into the barrel.

English barleywine.

Thanks for the suggestion! I do like the idea of an english Barleywine with rum. Especially if it was a particularly thick bodied barleywine like Perennial's Vermillion.

 

[m00ps]

Really ANY beer can be a candidate. Anythign hoppy would definitely lose the hop character, but it would probably still be pretty good. Higher OG beers are generally used, but ive had <6% Saisons and ESBs that were amazing when aged in a barrel. And they were entirely different from the normal version, unlike stronger beers which tend to just pick up hints of oak or rum

 

[tootal]

We did a Rye IPA and put it in a rye barrel. Amazing. It was extremely hoppy at first but after 5 months in the barrel it had mellowed just right! I had three kegs of it and the first two didn't last long but I sort of misplaced the third one since I didn't have it labeled. I found it right before a festival and took it there. It was three years old and was extremely good. Very well received at the fest!

 

[blizz81]

Second a sticky sweet English barleywine. Had a rum-aged BW at a local brewery this year that was fantastic.

 

[geoffey]

Innis & Gunn make a rum barrel aged ale. I'm not positive but I think the base beer is a Scottish ale? It's pretty good stuff though.

 

[pdxal]

Imperial stouts turn out great with rum barrel aging, but that's out, so:
2nd the English Barleywine idea.
Old Ale. Molasses flavor from the beer would meld well with rum/molasses character.
Porter or other style that has chocolatey flavors.
Agree, saison would be interesting. Particularly a very pale one with just pilsner malt and finishing dry like 3711 provides.
Dunkelweizen, with a high OG like Aventinus with wheat and caramel character.
Also, a rye pale ale or roggenbier might provide a nice spicy counterpoint to the rum barrel/sweet/tropical flavors.
Let us know what you decide and how it turns out. Good luck.

 

[jessup]

A local brewpub does some rum barrel blondes with citra or mosaic & the rum & tropical notes go really well! Something different. On hand pump its delish!

 

[Curtis2010]

Really ANY beer can be a candidate. Anythign hoppy would definitely lose the hop character, but it would probably still be pretty good. Higher OG beers are generally used, but ive had <6% Saisons and ESBs that were amazing when aged in a barrel. And they were entirely different from the normal version, unlike stronger beers which tend to just pick up hints of oak or rum

Case in point, Casa Bruja (Panama), is doing barrel aged versions of many of their brews and blends of their brews. I got to try #9 and #10 over NYE. Their Red Ale and Blonde Ale respectively (IIRC). Both were quite tasty. Unfortunately, they are not updating their web site with this info (...or anything else...very Central American).

View attachment 1451782312838.jpg

 

[Doctor_M]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=147815

The new world style is great. Brewed it several times. Not really sure if the "old world" decoction recipe is really worth the extra hassle.

 

[Paps]

Hi we probably don't really need 15-gallons of imperial stout.


Kyle

NONSENSE!!!!!!!!

 

[jojacques]

Pardon my newbieness (hehe), but won't adding beer to a non sterile and non airtight container like a wooden barrel promote infections?

My friend offered me a rum barrel to age my beer but I turned him down thinking I couldn't be done! Are you telling me I should go back to him for the barrel?

 

[Curtis2010]

Pardon my newbieness (hehe), but won't adding beer to a non sterile and non airtight container like a wooden barrel promote infections?

My friend offered me a rum barrel to age my beer but I turned him down thinking I couldn't be done! Are you telling me I should go back to him for the barrel?

Absolutely it will promote infections...your friend should send that dangerous barrel to me...I will safely quarantine it!

Seriously, all brewing (and fermented foods) is done with "bugs". Its a matter of deliberately "infecting" your wort with bugs that produce good and interesting flavors versus nasty ones.

Also no homebrew environment is truly "sterile", "sanitry" yes, "sterile" no way. Its a matter of keeping the undesirable bug population low enough that the desirable bugs will out compete them and make good stuff to drink.

 

[Brettomomyces]

What about a foreign extra stout? With the rum notes, esters, stout base, and moderate to higher abv I think it's a great candidate.

 

[jmcquesten]

a rum-barrel aged dubbel (...Rum-Barrel aged Belgian Dubbel from 3 Brothers)

I just bottled a Belgian dubbel that got rum soaked oak cubes in half of it. The sample tasted good and the oak definitely comes through. Looking forward to trying it after a few months in bottles.

Dunkelweizen, with a high OG like Aventinus with wheat and caramel character.

Also the "strong dunkelweizen", which is actually a weizenbock, is a good choice. Heavy Seas makes a really good holiday seasonal beer called Yuletide, which is exactly that, a rum barrel weizenbock.


This sounds really good too.

What about a foreign extra stout? With the rum notes, esters, stout base, and moderate to higher abv I think it's a great candidate.