Jameson Irish whiskey has just lately launched a sequence of whiskies referred to as Cask Mates, the place Irish whiskey has been aged in picket casks beforehand used for beers reminiscent of IPAs or Stout. Little doubt you have got heard of beers aged in bourbon or whiskey casks, however the different method round?
The Irish distiller goals to enchantment to the craft beer lover (and probably a youthful demographic) by combining contemporary hoppy flavors with mellow Irish whiskey. The IPA Cask Mates whiskey affords these hoppy grapefruit citrus aromas whereas there may be additionally a Stout Cask Mates Jameson for individuals who want their darker beers.
You’ll be forgiven for considering all that whiskey shares with beer is the picket casks and the phrase malt, however they’ve a way more advanced relationship.
Some international locations even make beers that use whiskey malts so as to add aroma to the beer, a traditional instance being the Adelscott beers of France, and even the Scots have gotten in on the act with brewers like Tennants and Brew Canine producing whiskey beers. The Scots know a factor or two about whiskey, so in the event that they’re mixing it with beer it could’t be a nasty factor, proper?
Beer and Whiskey – What Are the Similarities and Key Variations?
The obvious similarity, which you might be in all probability conscious of, is using malt in each whiskey and beer. Each whiskey and beer are created from starchy grains like barley, wheat, millet, rye, and oats, with water and yeast added.
Each contain a mashing stage earlier than the brew is fermented. In essence, all whiskeys begin off as a beer actually. Possibly that’s one of many early meanings of the phrase “beer earlier than liquor”.
That’s about the place the similarities cease. Whereas beer may have hops added to stability the candy maltiness, a whiskey mash is rarely meant to be drunk in its pure type. The ensuing fermented wort is distilled into the next ABV spirit of 40% or extra earlier than being aged or blended with different malts for extra taste.
Whiskey from Beer – Distilled Beers
Consider it or not, the Germans, that nice beer-loving race, have been distilling beer into the exhausting stuff for generations. Spirits like bierschnaps or bierbrand are their variations of schnapps and brandy respectively that began life as a beer.
Japan has additionally been distilling beers for the final decade with famed Kiuchi brewery maker a boozy spirit from their well-known Hitachino Nest White Ale referred to as Hitachino Kiuchi No Shizuku (Shizuku is Japanese for “water spirits.”)
Right here within the US, manufacturers like California’s Important Spirits have been making bierschnaps distilled from their very personal California Pale Ale since 1999. Because the variety of craft brewers in America has reached a file excessive curiosity in distilled beers has additionally resurged.
In 1999, Charbay Artisan Distillery & Vineyard experimented with turning a pilsner into whiskey and 6 years later took Bear Republic’s Racer 5 IPA (some of the revered IPAs on the time) and distilled it into what was possibly the primary – however is definitely essentially the most well-known – whiskey from an American IPA, Charbay Whiskey R5.
Principally, distilling one thing reduces the liquid at a ten-to-one ratio, so when you begin out with a really drinkable beer, you’re going to pay attention all that deliciousness and sophisticated flavors of the beer right into a shot of whiskey.
Whiskey Beers You Have to Strive
On the different finish of the dimensions, you have got whiskey beers – these are beers that both have had whiskey added to them or aged in picket casks which have been used for storing whiskeys. Though they don’t but have their very own BJCP classification, whiskey beers are proving to be very fashionable business beers on the craft beer scene.
Harviestoun Brewery of Northern Scotland produces a darkish ale referred to as Ola Dubh, Gaelic for “black oil,” which is aged in casks from Orkney’s Highland Park Distillery. The completed beer contains a daring, smokey aftertaste with a sweetness of toffee and hints of dried fruit – a nod to using sherry and whiskey casks.
Tennants, one in all Scotland’s oldest breweries, makes Tennants Beer Aged with Whisky Oak, a beer/ale hybrid that makes use of the oak barrels of Speyside Single Malt for the growing older course of. The infusion of oak provides a warming impact on the palate with fruity aromas coming from some surprising American hops.
The much-beloved craft brewery, BrewDog, has been producing a high quality vary of whiskey beers for a couple of years now, and one in all their newest releases is Paradox Jura. A darkish Imperial Stout, it has been aged in barrels that beforehand housed whiskies from the Isle of Jura for a stout that options oaky, smoky, and occasional flavors with a wealthy caramel undertone.
Right here within the US, there are a lot of stouts produced by craft breweries which have used bourbon barrels for the same impact. Founders Brewing Firm cave-ages and matures their Kentucky Breakfast Stout in barrels from Kentucky bourbon whiskey. You get the vanilla and oak notes from the barrel with flavors of roast malt and what the Head brewer describes as a kiss of candy Kentucky Bourbon.
Is It Okay to Combine Beer with Whiskey?
I’ve talked about whiskey beers and beer whiskeys, however what about mixing a shot of whiskey instantly into your glass of beer? The previous “boilermaker” custom. A DIY beer cocktail, the boilermaker is believed to have originated within the 1800s, with manufacturing facility staff who had been coming off shift (typically fabricating the boiler a part of locomotive engines) wanting a robust finish to their day.
There aren’t any exhausting and quick guidelines about which kind of beer it is best to use when making a boilermaker, and you might simply use no matter favourite beer you like consuming. Nevertheless, sure whiskies will pair higher with sure beers.
Rye or a traditional bourbon whiskey will work properly with a mild lager beer, whereas the daring Irish whiskeys will take pleasure in that further hoppy taste of an IPA. For those who’re on the lookout for one thing to go together with a session lager or ale, a blended Scotch like Well-known Grouse is a perfect alternative with good, light flavors just like a lighter type of beer, possibly with the odd suggestion of hops.
American crimson ales are recognized to go properly with bourbon, as one thing that displays again on the place the whiskey originated from.
The way in which you drink your “shot” and a beer may also be open to interpretation. Historically, when making a boilermaker, you’ll half-fill a pint glass with beer earlier than dropping the shot glass of whiskey straight into the beer, after which slamming the contents in a single go.
Another choice is to dump the shot of whiskey straight into the beer, holding the shot glass out of your beer – though not as a lot enjoyable. And at last, there’s the “liquor earlier than beer” technique the place you serve the shot and the beer individually. Begin by taking pictures the liquor then rapidly chase it with the beer.
All of the above strategies of creating a boilermaker end in fast consumption of alcohol and could be very fashionable at bar video games, particularly at scholar frat events. For those who order a boilermaker at your native hangout, likelihood is the barman will serve the 2 drinks individually.
The way you chug them is your alternative. Many bars even serve a whole lineup of beer and shot pairings reminiscent of tequila and beer (a Mexican beer because it’s recognized) or a natural bitter amari with a crisp pilsner to call simply two.
Whiskey and Beer – A Marriage Made in Heaven or Hell?
For those who’ve ever overindulged in a session of boilermakers, you in all probability suppose beer and whiskey is a wedding made in hell, particularly when struggling the hangover results the subsequent morning.
Whiskey beers and beer whiskeys can add an additional depth of taste when consuming from the growing older oak casks utilized in every. Jameson really ages their whiskies in barrels, that are then despatched to a brewer in County Cork to retailer a stout earlier than sending them again to Jameson to mature their Cask Masters vary of whiskies. A double shot of oakiness and beer flavors.
In fact, you might all the time simply pour your self a beer and a shot of whiskey facet by facet to sip at your leisure. Though it’s not a boilermaker, it’s one other high quality approach to take pleasure in whiskey and beer. A wedding made in heaven some would say!
