Seeking to up the ante with innovation and world-class bourbon flavors, New Belgium Brewing collaborated with Four Roses Bourbon, known for its smooth, fruit forward and slightly spicy bourbons, to invent a brewing process that would represent the absolute best of both beverages.
The process of brewing Oakspire is truly a brewer’s take on distilling, turning bourbon-soaked oak char into a unique and delicious beer,” said Astrid Moresco, specialty brand manager at New Belgium Brewing.
How exactly are those signature flavors extracted? To start, over the course of a year, Four Roses collects charred oak chips from inside their bourbon barrels as they are emptied. These oak chips contain caramelized wood sugars, which add notes of brown sugar, caramel, and toffee, and add color to the whiskey while it ages.
Next, a barrel maker in Minnesota toasts a custom blend of oak spirals which are then soaked in Four Roses’ bourbon. Meanwhile, New Belgium’s world-class brewing engineers construct a series of custom, stainless steel vessels to hold the charred oak and wood spirals. New Belgium’s high-rye base ale then circulates through the vessels during maturation, infusing the flavor from the charred oak and bourbon-soaked spirals, resulting in a stunning, one-of-a-kind bourbon ale with a cult following.