Barrel-aged beers have gone from nouveau rarity to ubiquities over the past decade or so. Numerous craft breweries house extensive second-use oaken stock procured from spirit and wine producers, while some niche operations make barrel-matured ales their primary focus, so much so they have their beers contract-brewed so they can pour all of their energy into the aging process.
Then there are the majority of breweries, where fresh beer is what it’s all about and barrel-aged specialties are just that. The latter description applies to Rouleur Brewing, a biking-themed Carlsbad concern that last released an oak-evolved gem – a wine-tinged sour blonde ale – four years ago. But the company’s long absence of time-nurtured offerings comes to an end today with the release of not one, but two barrel-aged beers, which Rouleur is releasing as a pair.
“My Head Brewer Ben Lawson has substantial experience with barrel-aged sour-beer production, so we eventually decided to brew a barrel-aged beer of our own,” says owner and Brewmaster Rawley Macias. “For our first project, we decided to stick with the clean-beer side and barrel-age our award-winning imperial stout. We contacted our friends at Cutwater Spirits and found out that they had some single-use American oak rye whiskey barrels emptying soon.”
That barrel-aged version of Rouleur’s Niterideur Imperial Stout comes in at 9.4% alcohol-by-volume. Macias says it presents profound cacao and coffee up front followed by lingering notes of vanilla, cinnamon and charred oak. It is joined by Windy Roads, a 12.8% American barleywine offering aromas of caramel, toffee and orange zest, and flavors of spiced rye, oak, vanilla and nutmeg.
“As we were planning to brew something to fill those Cutwater barrels, Ben and I discussed how we both love the long-forgotten American and English-style barleywines,” says Macias. “We started contemplating whether we should stick with the plan to barrel-age our imperial stout or change courses and age a barleywine. In the end, we decided to brew and barrel-age both!”
Barrel-aged Niterideur and Windy Roads have been packaged in metallic-labeled, wax-dipped 750-milliliter bottles. Only 195 bottles of each have been produced and can be purchased online or at Rouleur’s tasting room, where both beers will also be available on draft at Rouleur’s tasting room, beginning today.
Rouleur Brewing is located at 5840 El Camino Real in Carlsbad