Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Beer Barrel-Aged Rum En Route in Scripps Ranch

The wild world of craft beer is getting so experimental that barrel-aging, a practice that used to represent something of a “next level” in the brewing industry, is starting to be regarded as a bit ho hum. Beer enthusiasts still love the intense flavors brought on by holding a beer in a liquor barrel. Whiskey- and brandy-tinged stouts and barleywines offer mass appeal and such rich character they’re capable of replacing desserts at the end of a meal. It’s just become fairly commonplace to fill up a Heaven’s Hill barrel. And with each alcohol-laden wood receptacle that gets filled, a bit of the allure—much like the edge on a bourbon barrel dopplebock—softens and fades away.

One local brewing company that’s been aging their beer in barrels for a long time and in great quantities is Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits (10051 Old Grove Road, Scripps Ranch). As the wood-aged versions of their Navigator Dopplebock, Piper Down Scottish Ale, and Sea Monster Stout display, they’ve built up serious proficiency in this area. Fittingly, these experts are taking barrel-aging to the next level and, in doing so, incorporating the wares of their brewery and distillery operations.

A while back, head distiller Yuseff Cherney filled some new American white oak barrels with Ballast Point’s Three Sheets Rum, and let it age for two years. After the rum was transferred into bottles, he refilled the barrels, this time with Ballast Point’s Victory at Sea Coffee Vanilla Imperial Porter, a dark, semisweet beer with a smooth finish marked by roasty notes of java from North Park's Caffe Calabria.

The beer sat for a year-and-a-half, soaking in the rum, until last month when Cherney bottled the beer and set it aside for distribution at special events that will take place over the course of the rest of the year. Most would have stopped there, but this is where things get interesting. Those barrels have been filled once again, this time with a new batch of Three Sheets in order to produce what is bound to be a unique tasting beer barrel-aged rum.

They say good things come to those who wait. Guess we’ll find out in two years. At least there’s some pretty good aged Victory at Sea to help pass the time.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Southern California Asks: 'What Is Vinivia?' Meet the New Creator-First Livestreaming App

The wild world of craft beer is getting so experimental that barrel-aging, a practice that used to represent something of a “next level” in the brewing industry, is starting to be regarded as a bit ho hum. Beer enthusiasts still love the intense flavors brought on by holding a beer in a liquor barrel. Whiskey- and brandy-tinged stouts and barleywines offer mass appeal and such rich character they’re capable of replacing desserts at the end of a meal. It’s just become fairly commonplace to fill up a Heaven’s Hill barrel. And with each alcohol-laden wood receptacle that gets filled, a bit of the allure—much like the edge on a bourbon barrel dopplebock—softens and fades away.

One local brewing company that’s been aging their beer in barrels for a long time and in great quantities is Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits (10051 Old Grove Road, Scripps Ranch). As the wood-aged versions of their Navigator Dopplebock, Piper Down Scottish Ale, and Sea Monster Stout display, they’ve built up serious proficiency in this area. Fittingly, these experts are taking barrel-aging to the next level and, in doing so, incorporating the wares of their brewery and distillery operations.

A while back, head distiller Yuseff Cherney filled some new American white oak barrels with Ballast Point’s Three Sheets Rum, and let it age for two years. After the rum was transferred into bottles, he refilled the barrels, this time with Ballast Point’s Victory at Sea Coffee Vanilla Imperial Porter, a dark, semisweet beer with a smooth finish marked by roasty notes of java from North Park's Caffe Calabria.

The beer sat for a year-and-a-half, soaking in the rum, until last month when Cherney bottled the beer and set it aside for distribution at special events that will take place over the course of the rest of the year. Most would have stopped there, but this is where things get interesting. Those barrels have been filled once again, this time with a new batch of Three Sheets in order to produce what is bound to be a unique tasting beer barrel-aged rum.

They say good things come to those who wait. Guess we’ll find out in two years. At least there’s some pretty good aged Victory at Sea to help pass the time.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Ballast Point's Newest Spirit Surfacing in Bay Park

Next Article

Rolling out the barrels

Local breweries pushing the barrel-aging envelope
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader