The beer world today may be enraptured by the idea of barrel-aging – that is, aging beers in new wood casks or those that previously held wine, whisky, liqueur or other kinds of spirited goodness for a period of time – but that process has been used extensively in Europe for centuries. Back in the old days, wooden barrels were used to store and transport liquids such as beer or wine, and it was soon realized that the type of wood used can contribute to the character and flavour of its contents. In Belgium, for example, oak casks are often employed to age Flemish-style sour beer, which gave the brew a woody, tannic character.
And because barrels were expensive and labour-intensive to make they were often reused; people soon noticed that the contents can be affected by what was previously in those barrels. And that’s one of the key reasons why barrel-aging is so popular with breweries these days – it adds another layer of flavour previously unattained by the beer. As long as the barrels didn’t previously hold fish, of course.
But even before most American breweries started making barrel-aged beers, a tiny little brewery in Alva, Scotland had already begun their barrel-aging program… albeit reluctantly. In 2002, Harviestoun Brewery received a call from Matthias Neidhart, their American distributor. Neidhart, who had been importing Harviestoun’s Schiehallion lager into the United States, wanted Harviestoun to age some of their beers in whisky casks – they were located right smack in the middle of Scotch whisky making country after all, for goodness sake.
Harviestoun Brewery was originally founded by Ken Brooker in 1984 in a 200 year-old stone barn on a farm on the Harviestoun estate, near Dollar in Clackmannanshire, Alva. However, due to a need to expand capacity the brewery moved to Alva in 2004.
Harviestoun was skeptical, but they got some casks from Alness-based Dalmore Distillery and aged their award-winning porter Old Engine Oil in them. A few months down the road the “Old Engine Oil Special Reserve” was ready; a total of 1,793 cases and casks of the aged beer were produced, all made exclusively for the United States. It was very well received.
With that positive experience, Harviestoun looked to continue their barrel-aging program. In 2007 they landed a partnership with Orkney-based Highland Park, and obtained casks that previously held Highland Park whiskies for varying lengths of time. Old Engine Oil was again used, and aged in these variously-aged whisky casks. The result? Harviestoun’s Ola Dubh (pronounced Ulla Duv, and which means ‘old oil’ in Gaelic) range of barrel-aged beers, ranging from the Ola Dubh 12 (made with Highland Park 12-year old whisky casks), all the way to the Ola Dubh 40 ( Highland Park 40-year old whisky casks), which actually imparts different flavours into the base beer.
Harviestoun was actually bought out by Edinburgh-based Caledonian Brewery in 2006, but following the takeover of Caledonian Brewery by Scottish & Newcastle in 2008, Harviestoun became independent again when it was bought over by a group of Caledonian Brewery directors.
Singapore beer drinkers may not have realized it, but Harviestoun’s Ola Dubh first made its appearance on our shores at Beerfest Asia last year when it was actually available on tap, as well as a few random bottles of the other expressions. It took Eastern Craft Trading a while, but they’ve finally started bringing Harviestoun’s range – including the core Ola Dubh series – into Singapore on a more regular basis.
The importer has confirmed that they will be bringing in the Ola Dubh 12, Ola Dubh 16, Ola Dubh 18 and Ola Dubh 21, but also the Orach Slie (the Harviestoun Schiehallion Lager aged in Glenfarclas whisky casks), as well as their regular beers the Schiehallion Lager, Old Engine Oil Porter, Bitter & Twisted Golden Ale, and The Ridge Pale Ale.
You should be able to find these in all good bars and specialty beer retail stores.
Ola Dubh 12
Maker: Harviestoun Brewery
Style: Porter (barrel-aged in Highland Park 12-Year Old casks)
ABV: 8%
Volume: 330ml
Ola Dubh 16
Maker: Harviestoun Brewery
Style: Porter (barrel-aged in Highland Park 16-Year Old whisky casks)
ABV: 8%
Volume: 330ml
Ola Dubh 18
Maker: Harviestoun Brewery
Style: Porter (barrel-aged in Highland Park 18-Year Old whisky casks)
ABV: 8%
Volume: 330ml
Ola Dubh 21
Maker: Harviestoun Brewery
Style: Porter (barrel-aged in Highland Park 21-Year Old whisky casks)
ABV: 8%
Volume: 330ml
Orach Slie
Maker: Harviestoun Brewery
Style: Lager (barrel-aged in Glenfarclas whisky casks)
ABV: 6%
Volume: 330ml
