Tennent’s Whisky Oak-Aged Beer Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B-

Although aging beer in old whiskey barrels caught on in the United States at least a decade ago, the idea has been slow to make its way elsewhere. Indeed, over in Scotland they were aging whisky in beer barrels before they were aging beer in whisky barrels, but that is starting to change now. One such example is Scotland’s Tennent’s Beer Aged With Whisky Oak, first released in April 2014.

The Beer
This stuff is made in the style of an English ale at 6% abv prior to getting its stint in old Scotch whisky wood. What kind of old whisky wood they were using to age the beer would be worth knowing, but no information on that is available.

In the glass, this beer has a light amber color. The nose has the grassy character I often ascribe to Budweiser, only richer and fuller. Out of the glass, Tennent’s has a texture that is creamy, but on the light side of creamy, with a flavor that carries over some corny sweetness and caramel notes, giving me cause to suspect that the wood in question is a second-fill ex-bourbon barrel.