Craft Beer Time

A proper sipper for a cold night.

Double ET Wee pours a deep ruby brown with a soft tan head that settles gently across the glass. Rich aromas of caramel, toasted malt, and dark fruit rise up first, followed by hints of oak and warm bourbon from its time in the barrel.

The flavor leans beautifully into the malt. Layers of toffee, caramel, and lightly roasted grain coat the palate, with subtle dark fruit notes and a warming touch of whiskey appearing on the finish. The barrel adds depth without overpowering the beer, letting the classic wee heavy character shine through.

Big, smooth, and wonderfully balanced.

🍺 Double ET Wee
📍 Town Hall Brewery

Strawberries and bourbon barrels isn’t a combo you see every day, but Strawberry Stave makes it work beautifully. Deep burgundy in the glass with bright fresh strawberry aroma layered over honey, jam, oak, and just a hint of whiskey.

The flavor walks a really nice line between fruit and barrel. Sweet strawberries up front, smooth wheat body underneath, then caramel, vanilla, and warm bourbon character creeping in on the finish. Big, bold, and surprisingly balanced for 11.4%.

A fun twist on a barrel-aged weizenbock and a great slow sipper.

Some beers are great. Some beers make history.

Czar Jack from did both.

Long before barrel-aged beers had their own category at the Great American Beer Festival, this imperial stout won Gold in the Experimental Beer category, becoming the first barrel-aged beer to ever win a medal there.

In the glass it pours thick jet black with a brief brown head that quickly disappears. Rich aromas of chocolate, whiskey, and oak rise from the snifter, with hints of vanilla and caramel underneath.

The flavor leans into deep chocolate malt with touches of char and caramel, followed by warm whiskey, woody oak, and a little vanilla on the finish. Big, bold, and meant to be sipped slowly.

A true pioneer of the barrel-aged stout world.

Full review on Craft Beer Time. Link in bio.

Town Hall Brewery’s Czar Jack isn’t just another barrel-aged stout. It’s a piece of craft beer history.

Back when barrel-aged beers didn’t even have their own category at the Great American Beer Festival, Czar Jack won Gold in the Experimental Beer category, becoming the first barrel-aged beer to ever take home a medal.

Even today it still drinks like a benchmark example of the style. Thick jet-black pour, rich chocolate malt, warm whiskey from the barrel, oak, vanilla, and just enough boozy warmth to remind you this is a serious stout.

A bold, layered sipper that helped define the barrel-aged stout category.

Tennessee Dessert 🍫🥃

Whiskey barrel aged Imperial Stout with Belgian dark chocolate. 14.3% ABV and every bit of it shows up.

Jet black pour with a thick brown head that settles into a tight ring. Huge nose of rich chocolate, vanilla, bourbon, and oak.

First sip is warm milk chocolate and chewy caramel. Then the dark Belgian chocolate hits. Sweet whiskey warmth builds, a little boozy heat in the finish, and chocolate just hangs on forever.

Not a pint crusher. This is a snifter, a slow sip, and call it dessert kind of beer.

Liquid chocolate cake soaked in bourbon. 🍰🔥

Every year at Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery Barrel Aged Beer Week I get excited for the big returning stouts… but it’s the wild cards that really steal the show.

Jalisco Highlands is a 13.8% Belgian Blonde + Honey Ale aged in an añejo tequila barrel from the Jalisco Highlands. On paper? Sounds chaotic. In the glass? Absolutely beautiful.

Bright cherry, delicate citrus, a hint of watermelon, honey sweetness, toasted buttery oak, and that unmistakable Belgian candi sugar character all working together. Complex, layered, and somehow still dangerously drinkable.

A Belgian beer aged in a tequila barrel shouldn’t work this well. But it really, really does.

Full review up now on CraftBeerTime.com 🍺

Town Hall Brewery Jalisco Highlands - Craft Beer Time Barrel Aged Beer Week always brings the heavy hitters. The big stouts. The hyped returns. The beers you circle on the list the second it drops. But every