De Silly
Scotch Silly Bourbon Barrel Aged
Abv 11%
20170105 (Our Beers of the Day in January look back to some of our favorites of 2016)
The world craft revolution has pushed some of the established players in Europe to do things they probably hadn’t planned on. Brewery De Silly, which produces quite serious beers, has produced reliable full bodied Belgian ales as long as we can remember.
Among the many lessons the craft revolution has taught us is that taking a good beer and putting it in a barrel doesn’t necessarily make it a better beer. But the Silly folks have done well in crafting their Wee Heavy Scotch Silly. The high alcohol presumably helps guard against some of the mischief that can go on during barrel aging and there’s no apparent attempt to create a sour out of it. The result is a big strong dark ale with lots of fruit and a grace note of chocolate in the finish.
For a stark contrast, try Firestone Walker’s Agrestic. Firestone Walker is another excellent brewer that rarely misfires. The Agrestic, however, is the brewery’s 6.7% DBA aged in barrels for one to three years to achieve a very intentional sky-high acidity that rendered it almost undrinkable to our palates. Other palates adore it; cast iron stomach recommended.
The point: seeing “barrel aged” on the label tells you that it took some additional money and good deal of extra work to produce the beer. It doesn’t tell you much about what that beer is going to taste like.
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