Both Barrels, Adnams
Added: Wednesday, March 1st 2017
| Style | Oak aged | ABV 10.0% |
Adnams Both Barrels, 10%
The brewery in Southwold, Suffolk, has produced a special addition of Broadside bitter, aged in former Bourbon casks with the addition of cherries.
Head brewer Fergus Fitzgerald says Both Barrels started life as a single barrel back in 2010 when Adnams opened its distillery. “We put some bottling-strength Broadside into a Bourbon barrel along with some cherries. It was left to age for a year and we took some of it to beer festivals but we always topped up the barrel with fresh Broadside – effectively the Spanish solera system, used to make sherry.
“Then two years ago we took that single barrel and spread its contents among 12 other Bourbon barrels and again topped them up with fresh Broadside and some more cherries. So a small part of the beer will be six years old.”
The beer has a glorious burning red colour with a massive hit of oak, vanilla, smoke and cherries on the nose with a touch of peppery hops. Bitter hops build on the palate but are challenged by ripe fruit, biscuit malt and continuing notes of vanilla and oak. The finish is bitter, with hops dominating but biscuit malt, ripe cherry fruit, oak and vanilla continue to make a powerful contribution.
330ml bottle, £4.99. Limited stocks – order quickly.
