More Whisky Ale

My last encounter with an ale matured in whisky casks was very pleasant but left me with a few questions about this style of beer. I outlined a bit of the chemistry involved in whisky maturation, particularly the aromatic organic compounds produced during the toasting of old bourbon and sherry casks. I was still left with the question of where the tart character came from and whether or not the beer would be better without it. Fullers Brewer's Reserve has the same lactic like tartness so I am leaning towards the notion that clearly microbes can reside in ex whisky casks quite happily and impart their own character to beer that is matured in it. This ale is more complex than Tullibardine 1488, the darker colour suggests richer malts and there is a definite English hop character about it. The whisky flavour really kicks in at the end along with warming alcohol. As a bit of a experiment I took a dram of scotch with the last quarter of the bottle to see what this might do to my perception of the flavour. I was glad I did because the scotch reset my palate's perception of the whisky in the beer leaving a complex, well hopped English ale.

Brewdog have fully taken on this style of beer, offering three different stouts matured in whisky barrels that I am aware of. I picked up this Paradox Speyside Cask Matured stout in Edinburgh last year, much to my delight. My recent conversion to smoky beer leaves me hankering after some their Paradox Islay which I happily learned today has turned up in Ireland. I hope that it has more whisky character than this stout because there is little in this beer. There is no doubt that underneath it all a superb imperial stout is a work, giving rich roasted notes and pleasant warmth but it carries none of the tartness or whisky depth of the Fullers or Tullibardine 1488. Speyside scotch is renowned for its easy going nature, often touted as a good introductory malt for those starting out in the very rewarding adventure of single malt appreciation and perhaps this might explain the very mild whisky character to this stout.

Tullibardine Update

My recent trip trip to Edinburgh turned up some more information the Tullibardine 1488 Whisky Ale I posted about a while back. From chatting from a whisky tour guide and reading some information I brought back, I have discovered that there was a brewery on the site of the distillery around 500 years ago. Nowadays it is considered a very progressive distillery offering interesting finishes to its whiskies by placing the spirit in unusual casks for a period before bottling and their whisky cask aged beer seems to be part of this progressive attitude.

To set The Beer Nut's mind at ease I can inform him that the beer is brewed in Blackford, Perthshire though why this can't be added to the bottle instead of a rather barren looking postcode is beyond me.

Distillers Branching Out

I spotted this beer a number of weeks ago in the off license beside where I work, but passed up the opportunity to purchase it on a number of occasions mainly I suppose because of its expense and hefty ABV. I just wasn't in the mood for a heavy beer, and besides this establishment was knocking out the mighty tasty Brooklyn Lager a two quid a pop, so I loaded up on that because it is one of my favourite session lagers.

It is grandly dubbed 'Tullibardine 1488, Majestic Whisky Ale', and is brewed in the Tullibardine distillery, which is interesting to me because I am not aware of any other distilleries that have branched out into brewing beer. Sure, there are any number of breweries that have pilfered whisky and bourbon barrels from distilleries and stuffed their beer in them for a few months, but it's unusual for a distiller to bother himself with brewing beer. In some respects it's not that big a step, after all, the distiller has all the malt he needs, understands how to conduct a mash and handles yeast with skill. All he need do is get a kettle to boil in, purchase some hops and grab a brewing strain of yeast that won't over attenuate the wort (or wash, as distillers call it). I imagine there are any number of vessels lying about the place suitable for fermenting in, and of course he has a ready supply of fragrant whisky barrels.

Having studied a bit about the chemistry of whisky maturation I can see what these guys are driving at. Whisky casks must be made of oak, and usually stem from either Spain where they matured sherry in a previous life, or North America where they did their bit for Jack Daniels or Jim Beam before being bought up by Scottish distillers to mature their wonderful single malts. This goes a long way to explaining why typical North American bourbon is as rough as old boots compared to Scotch. While bourbon is not made from high quality malted barley - and this certainly affects the flavour, the raw woody aromas stem from the first time use of the charred oak barrel. The spirit is put in the barrel for a few years, and the ethanol extracts all manner of interesting compounds like tannins and lactones from the charred wood. Only once this process has occurred is the barrel suitable for the long maturation of Scotch whisky. Many of the rough elements are extracted by the bourbon leaving a more subtle and smoother flavour in the Scottish product. For some of the very flavourful and heavy single malt whiskies old sherry casks are used which are impregnated with potent flavour compounds derived from sherry maturation. During whisky maturation the spirit is often a 60% ABV and readily extracts compounds from the wood, so perhaps the hefty 7% ABV of this beer is intended as a means of getting a bit more character from the beleaguered oak barrels.

The beer itself is the colour of a rich single malt whisky, but the whisky character is not that pronounced; wine seems to be the dominant flavour suggesting that old sherry casks were used to mature the whisky that occupied the casks before the beer. The alcohol content is evident, with a satisfying warmth all the way down the throat. It perhaps resembles whisky more in this respect than any reference to flavour. There is little in the way of hop bitterness, and just enough malt to hold it all together. Interestingly, there is also a distinct lactic tang which likely stems from micro fauna in the cask, but how well bacteria can live in a cask filled with whisky is something I am unsure off. It is a light bodied beer for its alcohol content, and initially feels a little like a Belgian triple, but the over all impression is tart and refreshing, which is surprising for such a strong beer.