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5 Best Wine Barrel-Aged Beers to Drink Right Now

wine barrel aged beers
Allagash Brewing Company/Facebook

The process of barrel-aging a beer is meant to infuse additional flavor and aroma characteristics in a base brew. The elements passed from barrel to beer are influenced by many factors, such as the native aspects of the wood, any bacteria found in the barrel, and previous usage and treatment of the barrel (in addition to time, temperature, et cetera). An oak barrel, for example, provides hint of vanilla to whatever liquid it comes in contact with. Microorganisms that penetrate the wood in barrels may contribute funk to wild ales. And if the barrel was once used to store another liquid, those remnants can seep out and mix with the new beer.

Bourbon, rum, and tequila barrels are the most popular choices for aging beer. These barrels work well with strong, sweet stouts that can hold up to the biting, acidic characteristics of the liquor. But wine barrels are another excellent source for pushing beer in new directions. The more delicate notes from red and white wine barrels can enhance a variety of both dark and light beers. Here are a five wine barrel-aged beers to search out.

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Supplication

Russian River Brewing Company

Supplication Russian River Brewing Company

Russian River Brewing Company brews up a brown ale and then ages it in barrels that previously held Sonoma County Pinot Noir. Each barrel is loaded with sour cherries and the souring bacteria triple threat of Pediococcus, Brettanomyces, and Lactobacillus. The resulting sour beer is unlike any brown ale you’ve had before. It’s funky, tart and lush with a smooth red wine finish.

The Abyss

Deschutes Brewery

Abyss Deschutes Brewery

A longtime favorite of beer nerds, The Abyss is an amalgamation of 6 malts, 4 hop varieties, and other additions including cherry bark and licorice. Deschutes Brewery then ages the beer in bourbon, new Oregon Oak, and wine barrels. Those privileged to pick up a bottle of the annual limited annual release are treated to a rich, complex, and dense beer that won a platinum medal at the 2018 World Beer Awards.

Coolship Pêche

Allagash Brewing Company

Coolship Peche Allagash Brewing Company

One of Allagash’s esteemed Coolship series releases, Pêche is a Belgian Fruit Lambic with 7.3 percent alcohol by volume. The simple Belgian-style base beer is fermented in the brewery’s traditional open-air coolship followed by 2 years of aging in French Oak wine barrels. Then, the beer spends five months sitting on fresh peaches. The beer is simultaneously sweet and tart, with the sour funk, oak and peaches taking center stage.

Red Wine Barrel Midnight in the Garden

Coastal Empire Beer Company

Red Wine Barrel Midnight in the Garden Coastal Empire Beer Company

This outstanding beer from Coastal Empire Beer Co. takes the brewery’s Imperial Chocolate Stout and ages it in red wine barrels for six months. The resulting beer is a blend of chocolate, raspberry, and mulled wine flavors buoyed by a creamy mouthfeel.

Darkest Hour

Anchorage Brewing Company

Darkest Hour Anchorage Brewing Company

Anchorage Brewing Company’s Darkest Hour is a triple-fermented Belgian Style Imperial Stout brewed with Summit hops. The first fermentation is with a Belgian yeast. The second is in Pinot Noir and rye whiskey barrels. The final step is bottle fermentation with a wine yeast. There is a grape must bite that comes through in the taste, standing up to the sweetness of dark chocolate, vanilla, and molasses.

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The best kegerators for keeping your favorite beers cold and fresh
Fresh beer is better beer. Now, you can have cold draft beer at home or on the go with your own personal beer keg setup.
best kegerator on amazon

There's a wide selection of iconic craft beers and tasty cheap beers available to drink in cans and bottles. But nothing beats a good, heady draft pint served right from a tap or kegerator. As the name implies, a kegerator is a refrigerator that keeps a keg of beer cold and fresh while allowing you to dispense the contents from a built-in pressurized tap system on top.

However, it is a costly appliance, so it’s recommended to do your homework and invest your hard-earned money in a top-notch quality unit that will surely keep your beer fresh. To help you save time on researching the best ones, we’ve rounded up our picks for the best kegerators of 2023, with our selections ranging from on-the-go options to the most innovative dual-tap kegerators.

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The Borg drink is a viral Gen-Z favorite that’s really not all that new
Sorry, kiddos. "Borg" has been around for a while. We just call it something else.
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Every new generation thinks they've invented the wheel when it comes to anything trendy. We're sorry to say, Gen-Z, but "flared leggings" are called yoga pants, most of us were using flip phones before you were born, and don't even think about talking to us about pop punk unless you know who Billie Joe Armstrong is.
When it comes to drinks, most generations have a hallmark party beverage that defines their college years, holding the power to flood them with a rush of nausea and fuzzy memories even decades later. For Gen-Z, that drink is called "Borg." What they haven't realized yet, though, is that this falsely fruity concoction has been around for years under the name "Jungle Juice."
While Jungle Juice was originally invented by U.S. soldiers during the Second World War, it was Millenials who made it the truly trashy, hangover-inducing party swill it is. Most stereotypically mixed in a large bucket or something else that can be found in a dorm garage, Jungle Juice is a mixture of vodka and a cheap, fruity mixer such as Kool-Aid. Naturally, there aren't any hard and fast recipe rules, but that's the usual gist of Jungle Juice.
The Gen-Z twist, Borg, does have some clever upgrades, and for that, we give them due credit. Firstly, the rather gross-sounding name is actually a witty acronym for "Black Out Rage Gallon." We love that there's no beating around the bush with this generation. They know how to call a spade a spade. Second, unlike the communal trough that's used to dole out Jungle Juice, Borg is made and served in individual plastic jugs, cutting down on germ spread. We can appreciate that growing up in the days of COVID has made for some much healthier thinking. We also love that Borg can be capped, making it much more difficult for potential predators to tamper with a drink.
Of course, the optional addition of new ingredients like Liquid IV also help to curb the hangover that will undoubtedly come with drinking vodka from a plastic jug. That sure would have been nice back in the day.

Borg drink recipe

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Is erythritol harmful? What a dietitian says new data means for your Keto diet
Erythritol is common in many keto foods - what does that mean for your health?
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While sugar substitutes have been around for more than a century, they didn't really become mainstream here in the United States until around the mid-70s. According to Carolyn De La Pena, professor of American Studies at UC Davis and author of Empty Pleasures: The Story of Artificial Sweeteners from Saccharin to Splenda, between 1975 and 1984, Americans increased their consumption of artificial sweeteners by 150 percent. This timeline makes sense when you take into account that the late seventies coincided with the start of our crazed diet culture and the revolving door of fad diets.
One such diet that doesn't seem to be going anywhere, however, is the Keto diet. Still hugely popular among Americans trying to shed a few pounds, Keto focuses heavily on limited or no carbohydrates. Because sugar contains carbohydrates, followers of Keto have turned to artificial sweeteners to satisfy those late-night cravings - sweeteners that, more often than not, contain erythritol. Erythritol in particular has become hugely popular because it's much better for baking than other sugar substitutes, has less of an artificial flavor, and will keep the eater in Ketosis, which is key for losing weight on the Keto diet.
A new study has made waves recently because its findings indicate there's a link between erythritol and higher rates of heart attack and stroke (though the study did note that only an association was found — not causation. So should you be worried?
We asked Dan LeMoine, RD, the award-winning author of Fear No Food and the Clinical Director at Phoenix-based Re:vitalize Nutrition, what he had to say about erythritol, including its benefits and potential health risks. "Artificial sweeteners are still sweeteners. While many are non-nutritive or zero-calorie, we tend to view them similarly as we do regular sweeteners or sugars — moderation is key. While many have amazing implications on weight loss – being low to no-calorie options and having little impact on blood sugar, some have their downside," he says.

While some of that sugar substitution has been good for waistlines and health issues that come from obesity, it seems to be causing more and more concern when it comes to other potential health issues. "For example," says LeMoine, "some research indicates the popular sweeteners stevia may have negative effects on the gut microbiome. And the recent study showing correlation between the sugar alcohol, erythritol, and heart attack and stroke."

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