Some barrel aged beers can be sublime.
Others, a bitter and expensive disappointment.
Ultimately, it’s difficult to tell how much that’s down to the choice of barrel or the liquid inside. If only someone had experimented aging the same beer in different types of barrel…

Lockdown has had us all cooped up for months. Fortunately, thanks to Black Isle Brewing, we’re not the only ones. They’ve taken the same beer, an oatmeal stout, and matured it in two different barrels. Both have a history holding whisky: one from the East Coast of Scotland, the other from the West.
This is a game changer. At last, we have a fair comparison: what difference does a barrel make to a beer’s aroma, taste, and mouthfeel?