Casks of Black Oak At Fort York

Asst. Grain Shoveller · Sat Jul 23, 2005 12:56 pm

Whiskey Barrel Nut Brown Cask

We just got a whisky barrel, burn't on the inside and will attempt to be the first Ontario (possibly Canadian, but i dont know) brewery to try and let beer age in a wooden booze barrel and then cask the result.
Its going to be a learning experiment and should be very interesting.
We're in touch with some experienced american brewers who have been doing this for a few years.
If its really really really good we may not share it at all, sort of depends on my conscience or consciousness.

Black Oak Extreme Super Ultra Hop Bomb
Propably cram a few extra hop socks into this one and see how green it turns out.

The plan is to offer a different cask each day at the show.

look forward to seeing you there.

Cheers
Ken

PS Friday is a very good day to visit as most of us are sober

Jon Walker · Post by **Jon Walker** » Sat Jul 23, 2005 3:55 pm

For the love of God put the ultra hop bomb on the Friday!!!

As for your cask experiment...I tried a pint of bourbon cask aged porter in a bar in Washington D.C. a couple of years back. It was okay...the final product sort of tasted like bourbon had simply been poured into a pint of porter...not horrible but not a complex or well integrated result. hopefully yours will be better.

Josh Oakes · Post by **Josh Oakes** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 12:54 am

Previous barrel-aged beers in Canada have included DDC Quintessence (maple liqueur), Fat Cat Old Bad Cat Barley Wine (wine)...damn that's all I can think of. Wouldn't be surprised if Voie Maltee Polissonne was aged in whiskey barrels, but I couldn't confirm that. Still a ridiculously short list. Then again, this is a country that is barely aware of hops...

JerCraigs · Post by **JerCraigs** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 7:28 am

Josh Oakes wrote:Previous barrel-aged beers in Canada have included DDC Quintessence (maple liqueur), Fat Cat Old Bad Cat Barley Wine (wine)...damn that's all I can think of. Wouldn't be surprised if Voie Maltee Polissonne was aged in whiskey barrels, but I couldn't confirm that. Still a ridiculously short list. Then again, this is a country that is barely aware of hops...

Were all the Quinessence batches barrel aged? Cool.

PRMason · Post by **PRMason** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 7:40 am

The best barrel aged beer I ever tried was J.W. Lees Vintage Harvest Ale. It had been aged in Lagavulin casks and tasted like tawny port- all caramel and nuts. I had it as soon as I arrived at the Chicago Real Ale Festival a few years back, and I supped about 4 pints of it before reading that it was 11.5% abv.
Ken, your regular beers are never disapointing and your "one-offs" are truly great. I can't wait to try all of them!
For my part, I will have Major Misconduct, Glengarry 91/- Scotch Ale, Chaplain's Solace Old Ale, Captain Cascade and perhaps the Extra Hop Stout. All of these will cask ales.

JWalter · Post by **JWalter** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 11:36 pm

Perry & Ken, those brews sound delicious... We need an Emoticon that drools...

Gents, I am planning on doing the fest on the Friday, with a few friends, if anyone needs a hand doing setup, or anything, PM me, it would be a blast to help out...

Andicus · Post by **Andicus** » Sat Jul 30, 2005 2:53 am

PRMason wrote:For my part, I will have *snip*, Chaplain's Solace Old Ale,

I'm so disappointed that I won't get to try the Old Ale. I'll be interested to hear how it turned out. Being a Lagavulin fan, I would've liked to try the Vintage Harvest Ale you mentioned too.

Yeah, Ken's one offs are good, aren't they?

<--- Speaking of drooling... maybe Cass can throw this one in?

Sounds like it's going to be a great show. Hope you all enjoy yourselves. I'll be in PEI, hopefully enjoying some of the beer I'll pick up along the way in Quebec.

GregClow · Post by **GregClow** » Sat Jul 30, 2005 1:28 pm

Andicus wrote:I'll be in PEI, hopefully enjoying some of the beer I'll pick up along the way in Quebec.

If you're going to be in Charlottetown, you should try and visit The Gahan House, the only brewpub on the Island. None of their beers are mind-blowing (although I thought their stout was solid), but it's a really nice spot, and the food is better than average pub grub. Try the Sweet Potato Fries with the Works - it's like an order of veggie nachos, but with sweet potato fries instead of corn chips - messy as hell, but really tasty!

I'd also recommend trying the Oland's Red if you can find it on tap anywhere, as I found it to be surprisingly good (at least in the context of the other maritime beers, most of which are garbage). From what I understand, this brand is being phased out in favour of the new Keith's Red, so it may no longer be available anywhere, but it's worth having a pint if you stumble across it.

Asst. Grain Shoveller · Sun Jul 31, 2005 10:35 am

Glad to see i've inspired a drooling emoticon to possibly become part of the Bar Towel emoticon list.
Boy talk about influencing the beer masses.

Sorry i wasn't the first to barrel age in Canada, Do i still have dibs on the Ontario rites? (ps thanx to Josh)

So far so good with the barrel.
Adrian (the mad scientist brewer) has been carefully nuturing the barrell. (he does keep calling me "Igor" and mutters something about "give my creation life!!!" but once again i digress.)
We'll be tasting the result on Wednesday and then preparing for the transfer to the cask. Keep your fingers and toes crossed.

Our line up beyond the plain old Pale Ale & Nut Brown Ale will be
Friday:
Oak Whiskey barrell aged Nut Brown Cask (maybe I'll just change the name a few times to drive the ratebeerians nuts)
Seasonal guest tap: Double Chocolate Cherry Stout
Saturday:
Extreme Hop Bomb Pale Ale Cask
Seasonal guest tap: Christmas Nutcracker Porter
Sunday:
(Buckets of eno & tylenol for me and my staff)
Extreme Hop Bomb Pale Ale Cask
Seasonal Guest Tap: Double Chocolate Cherry Stout

If business is brisk i may have to do a keg run back to Oakville to keep our supplies up.
(I usually hide some kegs in the fridge. so i've got some keg aged Nutcracker and still have lots of stout that i plan on shipping to bars in October ( a stout for October????, sheer madness, not really just poor planning))

Things are really busy with the good summer weather (ie too hot to make the stuff but damm good weather to drink it)
I keep on running out of bottles so we gotta package as much as possible before the show. Gotta get all the bars & LCBO's topped up before the show too!

I look forward to seeing you at the show.

We'll be in booth 19 across from the main music stage, close to Cameron's and Creemore.

Cheers
Ken

PRMason · Post by **PRMason** » Sun Jul 31, 2005 11:11 am

Hey Ken, don't forget the 222's. They are loaded with brewers vitamin C-Codeine. (Vitamin A is alcohol, B is Black Oak Beer, C can also be caffeine, D is Dennisons, etc.
I will go to George's and get you a Pizza, lemme know where George's is and what toppings. I deliver newspapers already, why not pizza...

Andicus · Post by **Andicus** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 10:13 pm

GregClow wrote: If you're going to be in Charlottetown, you should try and visit The Gahan House, the only brewpub on the Island. SNIP***.

Thanks for the tips, Greg! I'll definitely check this place out. We'll be near O'leary for the first few nights, but plan on stayingin Charlottetown on our last night or 2.

JerCraigs · Post by **JerCraigs** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 10:23 pm

Asst. Grain Shoveller wrote: We'll be in booth 19 across from the main music stage, close to Cameron's and Creemore.

Alphabetical booth placements this year???

PRMason · Post by **PRMason** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 9:48 am

God I hope not! Steelback would be close to me then!

old faithful · Post by **old faithful** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 10:12 am

Looking forward to this weekend and these cask beers. I know I am "aging" myself here but the more superannuated amongst us may recall that an oak pin of ale from Upper Canada was intermittently available in the very early years of that brewery. The pin was placed on the backbars of the former Joe Allen on John Street and at Babbages in the Beaches and dispensed by thumb-taps. The beer was spiled in the correct manner, something which I think is not done for any of the cask beers currently available in Toronto. That UC ale might have been available elsewhere, too. The beer was cask-conditioned and dry-hopped.

That was the first oak cask beer in Ontario in recent memory.

Does anyone remember Babbages? There must be another bar there now, does anyone know its current name?

Gary

JerCraigs · Post by **JerCraigs** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 10:34 am

old faithful wrote:=The beer was cask-conditioned and dry-hopped.

That was the first oak cask beer in Ontario in recent memory.

I think you are confusing references (or at least mixing references in the conversation).

The concept of barrel aging - where a beer is aged in a cask/barrel which formerly housed another type of alcoholic beverage, bourbon being perhaps the most common, but also wine and other types.

Alternately some breweries are selling "Oak Aged" products where the beer is aged in an oak barrel for some time.

Even less common now is the simple use of an oak barrel to serve cask beers, having mostly been replaced by stainless steel or plastic casks, which i think is probably closest to what you are describing above.

The Bar Towel

Casks of Black Oak At Fort York

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