Festival of Barrel Aged Beers Coming Nov. 6

Tickets are now on sale for the Festival of Barrel Aged Beers. It will be this Nov. 6 and tickets will be $40 in advance and $50 at the door. Let me tell you one thing: it is definitely worth it. 


A barrel-aged beer is one that has been aged in a wooden barrel for a given amount of time. The idea of using large steel kegs or vats to keep a beer is a relatively new invention in the history of beer making and dates back to the 19th century. As industrialization turned what was formerly family- or town-run businesses into corporate machines with management structured, there needed to be a way to reliably transport and keep beer for delivery to far away places. Because wooden barrels impart different qualities and can alter the final product, new inventions in steel became the rage among industrialists. However, the uniqueness and flavor that many people now crave in these types of beers were lost. Consistency and reliable delivery trumped uniqueness and flavor.


Interestingly enough, with the rise of craft brewing, this method has now come back into vogue, especially in America. Many breweries in Europe still hung on to this time-tested method (for a good parallel example look at the history of champagne). Perhaps less than 10 years ago, American breweries started to pick up on this method and experiment with barrel aged beers. I remember the first few and uniqueness, and I was immediately blown away. Goose Island's Bourbon County Stout used Bourbon barrels to impart different flavors of vanilla and whiskey. It is a great way to take a good beer and add a distinctive twist to it.


Like all things, it might be getting overdone, and by that I mean that the big breweries have started to take notice and use it for marketing ploys. It seems to water down the whole experience, but events such as this show just how great a beer aged like this can be. It also takes quite a bit of time and space to house these beers. Inventory that sits and ages doesn't make money; an idea that is toxic to big brewers. Even though these guys have the capital and space to store their beer, it is up to the little guy to take the chance. It is our duty to go and drink as much as we can.


The fest is expected to draw about 50 brewers. There will be a judging. There are two sessions: one that runs from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and another that runs from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. The event takes place at the Chicago Journeyman Plumbers' Local Union 130 Stephen M. Bailey Auditorium, 1340 W. Washington Blvd, Chicago. This place hosts the CHRIP Record Fair and is a great location. There is plenty of room and a parking lot. The murals are a treat as is the balcony. Tickets are now on sale at Brown Paper Tickets. You can learn more at the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild website. There will be $10 tickets for designated drivers, and it is in Chicago, which is served by a lot of public transportation and cabs. 


One final word: as different movements that stress local food, slow food, local and independent shopping, and environmentally conscious choices, it is interesting to see the craft beer movement parallel this. Barrel aged beer falls into that same category. Instead of mass produced beer using cheap ingredients, people are choosing local flavors and varieties that use traditional methods of production. After more than a century of being told that mass production and uniformity is the ideal, people are starting to recognize and appreciate the uniqueness found in local and traditional methods and techniques. Even if we do live in an industrialized society, sometimes we recognize that instead of trying to force everything to be the same that some things are just made better with a bit of time and chance.