BARREL AGING GOING SOUR A others have all made a number of wild or sour beers. Some of these breweriess you can see, a general rule is to age bigger, stronger beers in new oak, orbarrels previously filled with spirits. But that is only one way brewers use barrelstoday. You may have heard that “sour is the new IPA.” That is, sour and wildbeers have increased in popularity, and where there is demand, there will besupply. Breweries like Cascade Brewing, New Glarus, Russian River, Lost Abbey,Allagash, Avery, Jolly Pumpkin, Captain Lawrence, New Belgium, and many even focus on them almost exclusively (Jolly Pumpkin and Cascade Brewing, for example). Lambic is a sour beer style that was nearly lost, but it is experiencing a rebirth of interest, perhaps due in part to the craft-beer tidal wave. In its purest form, lambic is spontaneously fermented with whatever wild microorganisms are in the air at the time of brewing. The wort cools in shallow pans called koolships, and the wild yeasts and bacteria suspended in the night air are allowed to inoculate the wort. But those are not the only organisms that will ferment the beer. Whatever wild yeast and bacteria exist in the oak barrels, re-used many times over the years, will Oak barrels can be over $1,200 each when new! also contribute to the final flavor of the beer. These barrels are complex microscopic environments and are much more valuable than the wood with which they are made. Other brewers might not spontaneously ferment their beerbut instead use a normal ale or lager yeast strain. The funky part comes when the beer is aged in oak barrels containing souring organisms. PHOTO: JEFFERY HALVORSON Perhaps one of the pioneers of the U.S. wild beer brewing renaissance is Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing Company. He uses wine barrels exclusively for his wild and sour beer. This not only suits the styles of beer he makes but is also convenient, since he is in the middle of California wine country. Patience and plenty of time are required to allow these beers to develop the flavors that Vinnie wants. Organisms like Brettanomyces (wild yeast), as well as Lactobacillus and Pediococcus bacteria, take months to work their magic. Wood barrels provide an ideal place for these creatures to live. In fact, it is nearly impossible to remove them once they are entrenched. When the barrel is filled with the next batch of beer, they happily go to work again. Oak barrels also allow the slow permeation of oxygen through the wood, something that Brettanomyces, for example, needs to continue its fermentation. PRACTICAL CONCERNS Once a barrel has been used for sour beer, that is basically all it is good for, unless you want to turn it into an impressive flower planter. Other non-sour barrels are sometimes only used once if the level of flavor extraction would be so low that they aren’t worth using again. Some brewers re-use barrels, and others do not. The character you extract from a bourbon barrel the first time will be very different the second time. The bourbon character may diminish, but you might still get vanilla or other tannins from the oak. Between uses, a barrel must be cleaned. Boiling water can be added and the barrel can be rolled around, but this needs to be done carefully. It needs to be rinsed until the water comes out clear. If the barrel is allowed to dry out, separation between staves can occur. Keeping it wet one way or another is preferable. It can be partially filled, and rolled around, with some kind of alcohol. There are also chemical solutions that can be used to keep the wood wet. Barrel maintenance is complicated, with a great many variables. 60:
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