I plan on brewing a wheat wine using some of the El Dorado hops I have in my freezer. I also have a 5 gallon rye bourbon barrel that will be empty. I think the wheat wine will go well with the El Dorados and that a wheat wine will benefit from the barrel, but I am not sure if the El Dorados will pair well with the barrel. I can use some opinions on this.
Thanks,
Dan
Why not?
Sounds like a good idea to me!
Just to clarify, rye or bourbon? I tend to like a bourbon barrel for “bigger” styles like a RIS or Baltic, but a rye barrel for somewhat less aggressive styles (the latest being a Pumpkin Saison… yeah, rye-barrel Pumpkin Saison). Pretty big difference between the two.
I think regardless of the hop variety, the hop character will seem a little more muted than you might expect, depending on how long you plan to leave the beer in barrel. Barrel aging tends to soften the overall character of a beer IMO, more so the longer it stays in there. Doesn’t mean it won’t be great though.
Firestone Walker does a wheat wine with el dorado hops called Hell Dorado. It’s pretty good. I’m not sure if they release barrel-aged versions of it but I could see rye working with it.
To be specific, it is a 5.5 gallon barrel that once held Tuthilltown Manhattan Rye. I currently has an RIS in it, which needs to come out very soon.
Perfect! Sold. I will send them an email to see if they can provide advice on brewing this beer.