Barrel Project is the rather appropriate name chosen by Kees for his special beers aged in barrels. He started doing this back in 2015 when he began brewing beers under his own label.
Invariably the beers chosen are the bigger, stronger beer styles – imperial stouts and barley wines being the norm. But it was nice to pick up this beer which is a Scotch Ale, which may also be called a Wee Heavy, aged for eight months in Bowmore Whiskey barrels.
It has a sweet roasted malt aroma, with a little fruit against the background of the whiskey barrel. Early sweetness in the flavour is of toasted malt, raisins and a touch of chocolate. The peat of the whiskey slides in behind to provide a smokiness that slowly becomes more evident.
There is no obvious bitterness, rather the peaty smoke performs the balancing act, without ever getting too peaty. Definitely one for the whiskey fans, but not something to be put off by if you aren’t.
The winter seasonal offering from Glazen Toren is a Scotch Ale
by Brouwerij Palm (Swinkels Family Brewers)
A very un-Belgian beer, which has found favour both in Belgium and abroad
A Scottish Gruit Ale with a rich, smooth malt backbone and a mix of hand-foraged herbs and spices
A Strong Scotch Ale, rich in malt with a Belgian yeast twist
A Russian Imperial Stout brewed to an original English recipe from 1750
A slightly happier version of a classic barley wine, using Cascade and Citra hops
A rich caramel malt body with a good dose of hop bitterness and a dry finish
An Imperial Saison aged 6 months in Buffalo Trace Bourbon barrels
A delicious dessert beer, this is like caramel fudge in a glass
Probably the flagship beer of Kees' beer portfolio
This beer replaces the Double Rye IPA, loaded with Mosaic, Simcoe and Loral hops with a crisp malt body
The second variant of Kees' Double IPA, double dry hopped with Simcoe & Amarillo
A spicy Rye Imperial IPA, with generous additions of Citra, Simcoe and Cascade
An old 19th Century beer style, dragged into the current craft beer world by a creative and talented brewer
A triple dry-hopped Imperial IPA, the 2020 single hop edition features Chinook hops
An IPA from Kees, finished with a French saison yeast for an interesting mix of beer styles
Kees' version of a NEIPA - or at least a hazy IPA - full of Citra, Mosaic and Loral hops
A new version of Kees' hazy IPA featuring Citra, Mosaic and Loral hops for a soft, juicy IPA
A lightly smoked summer dopplebock - apparently it's how the 'Indian's celebrated the autumn!'
Pils and Munchener malts, Amarillo hops, coriander and mango are all fermented with yeast from Westmalle
A milkshake IPA, made using lactose and with the addition of fresh mango and vanilla
A chocolate orange stout in collaboration with De Dochter Van De Korenaar
A hop-driven pale ale dry-hopped with loads of beautiful Citra hops
Pineapple, coriander and szechuan peppers plus a little lactose make for an intriguing milkshake IPA
A really juicy, and very intriguing, single hop IPA using experimental hop HBC472
A chocolate oatmeal stout with loads of fresh strawberries added
A rich Russian Imperial Stout with cinnamon and brown sugar, based on the traditional Dutch pastry dessert
This Bourbon barrel aged imperial stout is a three-way collaboration with Alvinne (BEL) and Velka Morava (RUS) brewed at Brouwerij Kees
