The Homebrewer’s Guide to Barrel-Aged Stouts

This article originally appeared in the March/April 2022 issue of Zymurgy Magazine

By Ryan Pachmayer

Unlocking the Secrets to Brewing Modern Barrel-Aged Stouts

Modern barrel-aged stouts are thick, smooth, and flavorful. From virtually every type of chocolate imaginable to flavors of coffee, vanilla, caramel, and more, breweries such as Side Project Brewing, Cycle Brewing, and Kane Brewing, to name just a few, are creating big, thick, luscious, dessert-type stouts.

These beers truly showcase the brewer’s ability to marry strong stout-base beers with classic spirit-barrel flavors. The best of these are special-occasion offerings and can feel like works of art. In this guide to non-adjunct barrel-aged stouts, we’ll break down the process of creating such beers from start to finish, with tips and tricks to help you brew them the same way top breweries in the world are brewing them.

Access the full article in the March/April 2022 Zymurgy magazine.

This article covers:

• HOMEBREW RECIPE: 20 Stout Imperial Stout
• HOMEBREW RECIPE: 01110011 01110100 01101111 01110101 01110100 Imperial Stout (Bottle Logic Brewing)
• HOMEBREW RECIPE: Infinite Sequence Imperial Stout (New Image Brewing)
• Recipe Design
• Building a Thicker Base
• Building Layers of Flavor
• Choosing a Workhorse Yeast
• Adding Hops Strategically
• Brewing Techniques
• The Importance of Yeast Health
• Mashing practices
• Long vs. Short Boil
• Utilizing Oxygen
• Fermentation temperature and management
• Shopping for Barrels
• Barrel Types
• Time in the Barrel
• Barrel Alternatives
• Troubleshooting