Living the Dream Brewing will host its annual Barrel Aged & Stout Showcase this Saturday, Feb. 4, at its Littleton, Colorado, taproom. The showcase features brews aged in bourbon and whiskey barrels along with a special mixed-barrel sour. The event is free and open to the public.

Focus on Barrel-Aging

Over the past three years, Living the Dream has put an increasing focus on its barrel-aging program and it’s an area that owner Jason Bell wants to continue growing.

“We developed our barrel program because it’s such a challenge to put a beer into a barrel and just basically forget about it for a while,” Bell says. “It’s always exciting and a bit scary as the beer develops flavors and is really out of your control.”

February Stout Month

Bell is excited to be able to link this year’s showcase to Stout Month. He believes that Stouts are some of the best beers for barrels because they are typically big, robust brews that can hold up to the intense flavors of the barrel. Additionally, the flavors in inherent Stouts such as coffee, chocolate and roast complement the oak and spirit flavors imparted by the barrels.

Bell also looks forward to the early February event because it “creates an opportunity to showcase what we can do and create a fun event in a time of year where most people are smack in the middle of the winter doldrums.”

Local Spirits Connection

This year carries additional significance because several of the beers were aged in Rocker Spirits barrels. Rocker Spirits is a craft distillery and one of Living the Dream’s neighbors in Littleton, a suburb of Denver. “It’s always great to collaborate locally and help support the other small producers here in Colorado,” says Bell. Rocker crafts whiskey, rum and vodka.

Showcase Pour List

Living the Dream Brewery’s Barrel-Aged Beer and Stout Showcase promises at least half a dozen barrel-aged brews, along with a complement of Living the Dream’s Stouts. In addition to the initial pour list, below, the brewery plans to continue sampling barrels for readiness and hopes to add a few surprise tappings.

• Bourbon Barrel-Aged Barleywine, 2020 and 2021.
• Bourbon Barrel-Aged Festivus Fireside.
• Whiskey Barrel-Aged Old-Fashioned American Strong.
• Rocker Spirits Bourbon Barrel-Aged Velvet Imperial Stout.
• Rocker Spirits Port-Bourbon Barrel-Aged Velvet Imperial Stout.
• L’Ecole Vineyard Barrel-Aged Mixed Barrel Sour: Flanders Red with cherry puree and Brettanomyces blended with a Golden Sour with Lacto and Brett.

 

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Featured image provided by Living the Dream Brewing Co.

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