It’s always fun to see what we get after putting up some beer in barrels and letting it rest for a number of months. As we get into the colder months, we’ll be releasing three of these beers, with Beyond the Gap being the first of them to hit.
The Beer and it’s Barrel
We put 55 gallons of last year’s batch of Mysterious Gap into a recently emptied Buffalo Trace bourbon barrel labeled “Mash #1”. The beer went into the barrel as a fairly typical Belgian Tripel style – light in color, on the dry side, and featuring a banana-heavy fruitiness and clove-like phenolics from the fermentation.
Tasting Notes
The first thing we pick up is fruitiness in the aroma. The fruity character has really emerged in this one, with a pineapple note being the most prominent, with a trailing note of wild or concord grapes. The banana and clove notes are in the background if at all, and the bourbon character is fairly muted, but there is a clear oak character.
Looking back at last year’s batch notes, what we found was the flavors from the barrel were superimposed on the original beer, so what emerged had a cloves and bananas tripel character and oaky, bourbon notes, with many comparisons to Bananas Foster. This year, the barrel seems to have transformed the beer into something new: oaky, strong, fruity, a hint of tartness, and a nice dry finish.
Overall, it’s a lovely beer. Subtle oakiness, just the slightest hint of vanilla, and a dry, semi-tart crispness combined with the malty sweetness of the base Tripel. A good pairing for a cooler fall evening.