I still remember my first bourbon barrel aged beer like it was yesterday. It was December of 2002, and my brother-in-law Terry King and I had just finished some plumbing work in my house. We decided to have a beer so I brought him to Flossmoor Station Brewery, my local craft brewery which was also my favorite brewery at the time. Todd Ashman was the head brewer and quite well known in the region. We arrived on that snowy December day and I was very familiar with all their regular beers (i.e. Pullman Nut Brown, Gandy Dancer Honey Ale, Panama Red Ale, Station Master Wheat, and Eclipse Stout). But that day they had a new beer on the menu - Bourbon barrel aged raspberry stout. The description explained that the stout had been aged in Woodford Reserve Bourbon barrels for almost a year and fresh raspberries were added that last month or so of fermentation. We ordered two and they came in 10 oz snifters. The first sip was a taste I had never experienced before and it was GOOD! The dark black stout released its roasty coffee like flavors but in addition was flavors of caramel, vanilla, and of course bourbon. But then at the back end a slightly sweet and tart raspberry finished it off leaving myself and my brother in law simply speechless. This was one of the best beer I had ever tasted. From that day on I was a convert to bourbon barrel aged beers. Lets say we did’nt feel the cold weather after we left.
A LITTLE BOURBON BARREL AGED (BBA) BEER HISTORY
You would get few arguments from craft brewers and beer drinkers that Chicago is the epicenter of of Bourbon Barrel Aged beer. While this style is now served across the country and is a special favorite of craft beer drinkers, Chicago is its center and most likely it’s place of origin.
The origin of making a beer in a bourbon barrel for the first time may be impossible to determine, but I will try.
The year it all began seems to be 1992. Greg Hall the master brewer at Goose Island Brewery had heard that Larry Bell, brewer, founder and owner of Bell’s brewery celebrated making his 1000th batch of beer by making an unusually strong ale in a very limited batch, making it hard to get (starting a tradition carried on to this day in the craft brewing industry). Goose Island was getting close to making their 1000th batch, so Greg was thinking about what kind of unusual or unique beer he could make for this special milestone.
Two events happened in 1992 and I am not sure which occurred first, but I am sure both influenced Greg’s choice of beer for his 1000th batch. One of the events was Greg was attending a dinner at LaSalle’s restaurant in South Bend with industry representatives from top cigar, bourbon and beer companies. Master bourbon maker Booker Noe from Jim Beam was quite a character and a good speaker and he talked of the magic of oak barrel bourbon. This caught Greg’s attention and got the wheels spinning.
The other event was at a 1991 or 1992 Chicago Beer Society (CBS) meeting one of the members, Jim Kubee, brought in an Imperial Stout he had put in a barrel and shared it, as members did at their monthly meeting. Several other members loved the beer so much they convinced Jim to drive down to Jim Beam to see if he could get some Bourbon Barrels. He did and he setup in his house to brew a batch with other members, In the end only a few brewed it with him, (one being Greg Fischer of Bev Art and Brewing supply who went on to supplying a barrel of Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout in front of his store on 101st Western every year at the south side St Patricks Day parade and become one of the first mead makers to put mead in a bourbon barrel) but after 3 months of aging it was ready as a far as they knew. They had a party in Fall and served that Imperial Stout they had aged in that Jim Beam barrel at a Chicago Beer Society dinner held at Goose Island and it was a massive hit. Many brewers attended the dinner, though not certain most said Greg Hall attended.
In the end Greg Hall also got a few Jim Beam barrels and he brewed his 1000th batch, an Imperial Stout aged in that Jim Beam barrel. I am not sure how many batched he made between then and 1995 but what is a fact is Bourbon Barrel Aged beer first public appearance was at the 1995 Great American Beer Festival. Greg Hall brought his Bourbon County Brand Stout to the festival, but it did not fit into any style category at the time, so it was disqualified by the judges.
But the lines for sampling the beer were so long, Hall received so much positive feedback and so many of the best brewers were so impressed with Bourbon County, the judges gave it an Honorable Mention award.
Bourbon barrel aged beer was now on the craft brewer map and several other Chicago brewers began to experiment with this new technique of aging a beer in a used Bourbon barrel. The Big Three were:
Greg Hall
Pete Crowley
Todd Ashman
The first brewer from Chicago to submit a Bourbon Barrel Aged beer to the Great American Beer Festival was Todd Ashman in 1998. Luckily GABF had learned from the 1995 submission of Bourbon County getting disqualified because it did not fit any style category and they created an Experimental category for beers that did not fit their categories. Todd submitted Imperial Eclipse Stout which he had aged in a Jim Beam barrel for 6 months and won a Gold medal in the Experimental category. Todd and Pete Crowley worked with GABF to help them understand these new beer styles and GABF created a Wood and Barrel Aged Category in 2002. In that year Pete won a gold medal in the Wood and Barrel Aged Category for his Terminal Bourbon Stout and Todd won a Bronze medal for his Old Conundrum Barley Wine.
Now Wood and Barrel Aged beer were here to stay, and many of the craft beer pioneers in Chicago thought it was time to start a beer festival devoted to Wood and Barrel Aged Beer. Pete Crowley was the right man for the job. See my interview with Pete to get the details on the creation of FOBAB (Festival of Wood and Barrel Aged Beer)
Cheers!
Dan Taylor