Hey, all! I was thinking this week that I should bring you, our readers, up to speed on some of our more long term projects here at Idle Hands. Namely, some barrel-aged projects that have been sitting and developing in our production space for as little as a few months to nearly two years. While these projects take far more time, effort, and risk, the end result can be the great reward of crafting a unique beer. With the holiday season on the horizon, now is the time we are starting to bottle these beers for proper conditioning before you’re able to take them home to share with friends and family during all the celebrations ahead.
One of the questions we hear often from patrons sitting at our bar is, “What’s in those barrels over there?” Well, the barrels that you can see from your seat are some that we’re going to be packaging in the coming weeks. All are bourbon barrels straight from the Bourbon County of Kentucky. (Shout out to our friends at Redstone in Stoneham and Andover who have supplied these to us over the years!) Currently, three of the barrels are first-use, meaning the last thing in them was the spirits, and are holding Annika, our Baltic Porter since March ’18. The other two are second-use, previously holding our Barrel Aged 34, and are now holding last year’s vintage of Four Horseman, our spiced Belgian-style quad.
Early tastes right from the barrels of Four Horseman (’cause you know, the only way I’m gonna know they’re ready is by tasting them) show that the barrels have added extra layers of vanilla, caramel and oak tannin to our already robust quad filled with aromas and flavors of warming spice and dark fruits. These will be emptied soon, but the barrels won’t be done yet! We have some fun plans for them as we will immediately transfer a new product from our Funky Town Tank right in after they are emptied. A riff on our old Rosemary for Remembrance, we’ve taken a beer brewed with sweet potatoes, rosemary, and brown sugar and introduced it to our mixed culture. Now we’ll be introducing that beer to the inside of a bourbon barrel and I’ll say that I haven’t been more excited to see how a beer will turn out in a while.
For those who can’t wait for barrel-aged goodness, we still have bottles of our bourbon barrel aged imperial stout Cross Roader for sale! Nearing about 9 months cellared, this beer hasn’t lost a step. Served at a proper cellar temp around 52*F, flavors and aromas of dark chocolate brownies and espresso come first and are backed up with caramel, vanilla, and a touch of coconut. All are a result of just the beer and the barrel; no adjuncts added. Pick one up while they last and get ready for a handful of great projects coming from our soon to be expanding barrel cellar. Cheers! — Lead Brewer Brett Bauer
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