When it comes to defining the character of a brewery, there are a lot of decisions to be made, the most important being the type of beer that will be brewed. And Wooden Cask Brewing knew that providing the same modern styles as other breweries wouldn’t make them stand out; it also didn’t represent who they are.

So to gain recognition and embrace their favorite styles, Wooden Cask brews traditional styles that are often overlooked as other breweries are making hazy IPAs and pastry stouts.

But that doesn’t mean their beer isn’t worthy of hype. One of their fan favorites is Corruption, a barrel-aged stout. Even a brewery focused on traditional styles knows providing great barrel-aged beers is important to meeting the drinking preferences of customers.

To understand this beer, we have to take a step back and get to know the base beer. Before going into barrels, this beer starts out as Reformation. It’s a Scottish stout that is typically served on nitro. It features light roasted notes as well as a touch of dark fruit. The ABV of this stout is 7.5%. Reformation is exactly what you’d want from a stout with a more traditional profile.

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A Unique Barrel Each Time

One thing that makes Corruption so unique is that Wooden Cask uses different barrels each time it’s aged, which means each brew is a unique experience. And while many breweries use a wide range of barrels, they typically use blending to produce a consistent flavor batch after batch. Wooden Cask takes the opposite approach where each version is a true representation of what the specific barrel can produce.

The most recent release used 12-year-old Boone County Bourbon barrels. This is a new distillery in Northern Kentucky. These barrels take the 7.5% base beer up to 11.1% ABV. That’s quite a jump, so you know it captured a great deal of bourbon flavor from the barrel.

Currently, Wooden Cask has a batch aging in barrels from New Riff—another Northern Kentucky distillery. There’s no doubt it will have its own unique flavor.

Barrel-aged beers continue to be one of the most popular styles around, especially if it’s a stout that’s going into the barrel. Wooden Cask Brewing is proving that they know what it takes to make this style unique.

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