Boatrocker Tennessee & Kentucky Reds

Style
Double Barrel-Aged Flanders Red
ABV
Both 6.4%

When you've got barrels of all origins, ages and sizes to play with, why wouldn't you do just that? And when you have a particular fondness for brewing Flanders red styles, why not use them as your muse?

Such is the diversified nature of the beer world these days, brewers are finding ways to showcase the ways in which changing one ingredient or one process can significantly alter the liquid (see Hawkers' Alter Ego IPAs released around the same time as this duo, for example). Here, Boatrocker's brewers set out to make use of two similar yet distinct first use barrels from the US: one previously housed Jack Daniel's, the other Buffalo Trace, and into both was poured a Flanders red style ale that had already spent around two years in French oak.

In the case of the Tennessee Red, it seems like the three months in ex-Jack barrels didn't cause too much deviation in the base beer's evolution (he says having not tasted it before that three month finishing period). There's more sweet spiciness to taste than I recall from past Boatrocker reds of this ilk, but otherwise it remains a beer in keeping with the Flanders reds the Braeside brewery have been refining over the years.

With Kentucky Red, however, it's fair to say the Buffalo Trace most definitely leaves a trace. It's as if a fire blanket has been dropped over those lively upfront acids, instead bringing a nougat like creaminess, some charred oak / leather and a souring whiff too. The potent red underneath can’t be tamed for long, however. As soon as you’ve taken a swig, your palate is brought to life by a beer that if anything is more structured than its companion: there's a more distinct carbonation and acidity holding the sweetness in check, a longer-lasting head and firmer texture too.

One base beer, two barrels of similar origin, one process, two quite different beers. And for this writer, it's the Buffalo Trace that delivers the more rewarding experience.

James Smith

Published February 14, 2022

Name
Boatrocker Brewers & Distillers
Address

34 & 51 Macbeth Street
Braeside
VIC 3195

Phone
0438 394 972
Open Hours

Thursday: 4pm to 10pm
Friday: 2pm to 11pm
Saturday: midday to 11pm
Sunday: midday to 6pm

Tours

By appointment

Pickled OnMarket
CBCo Goldy

More from Boatrocker Brewers & Distillers

Boatrocker Fat Santa 2023
Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout w/ Coffee, Vanilla & Tonka Beans
10.8%
Boatrocker Hoppen Poppe, Mojo & Double Happiness
Hoppy Belgian Blonde, Cherry Cola Sour & Raspberry Sour Ale
6.2% & 4.8% & 6.8%
Boatrocker Barrel-Aged ESB, Ramjet 2023 & Blazing Saddles
Barrel-Aged Beers As Described
8.5% & 10.8% & 9.8%
Boatrocker Old Brown Ale & Chocolate Stout
English Brown Ale & Chocolate Stout
5.5% & 6.1%
Boatrocker Flux Capacitor, Wildeberry 2022 & Mojo
Various Styles As Indicated
9.2% & 6.2% & 4.8%
Boatrocker Ramjet 2022
Whisky Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
11.1%
Boatrocker Double Barrel & Demi-Jaune (with Crittenden Estate)
Wild Whisky Ale & Wild Italian Grape Ale
5.5% & 8.6%
Boatrocker Straight To VHS, Hello Stranger, Oakey Dokey & Roger Ramjet '22
ESB, Red IPA, Oaked Stout & Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
5.5% & 6.0% & 7.5% & 10.6%
Boatrocker Mojo Cherry Cola Sour
Cherry Cola Sour
4.8%
Boatrocker Conehead IPA & Faith
West Coast IPA & Belgian Tripel
6.2% & 9.2%
Boatrocker House Rosé & Friends
Barrel-Aged Wild Ales
All 6.2%
Boatrocker Gaston & Funky Monkey '21
Barrel-Aged Brett Saison & Barrel-Fermented Wild Ale
10.6% & 6.2%
Boatrocker Nordjet 2021
Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout with Liquorice
11.0%
Boatrocker & Blackhearts & Sparrows Wildheart #2
Barrel-Aged Blended Ale
Boatrocker La Fleur, Harmonious Funk & Sterk & Donker 2020
Wild Ales & Barrel-Aged Belgian Dark
6.2% & 6.2% & 11.2%
Boatrocker & Crittenden Estate Jaune
Wild Ale with Grapes
9.4%
Boatrocker Ramjet 2020
Whisky Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
11.8%
Boatrocker & Carwyn Cellars JackJet 2020
Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
11.3%
Boatrocker KP's & Banshee 2020 & Wildecherry 2020
Barrel-Aged Beers
5.0% & 11.9% & 6.5%
Boatrocker Variations On A Theme IV & Oakey Dokey Stout
Hazy IIPA & Oaked Stout
Both 8.0%