Winemakers and distillers rely on barrels to finish their product while brewers also often employ oak barrels to age their special beers. This imparts flavors of wood, coconut, vanilla, spirits and so much more to the liquid inside. In fact, for the sake of aging, storing and transporting alcohol, people have been making barrels for over 2,000 years in a tradition called coopering.
The Coopers who make these barrels are as crafty and innovative as the brewers who fill them. In this episode, we finish our series with Rogue Brewery by visiting their on-site Cooperage. There we surround ourselves with classical music and pre WWII French machinery to learn the painstaking steps they take to create a drink that is both nuanced and wonderful.
I have spoken to people who complain about rising prices of craft beer, especially barrel aged. Brewing something worthy of going into a handcrafted barrel, which then takes up valuable space and time for months or years, is surely worth a few extra dollars. After all, barrel aged beer is meant to savor, not to slam.
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