Wood

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Historically, beer has been fermented, aged, and served from wooden vessels. Long-term wood-aging has been carried through for certain specialty beer styles, such as lambic and Flanders red ales. There has been a resurgence of barrel and wood-aging in recent decades, particularly among the craft brewing industry. Often the goal of the brewer is to impart the character of distilled or fermented beverages that were previously held in the barrel, but characteristics from the wood itself will be transferred to the beer during aging, and may contribute significantly to the organoleptic properties of the finished beer. A wide range of volatile compounds are transferred to beer and other beverages aged in barrels or on wood chips. Of the phenolic compounds, vanillin and vanillic acid are of high interest, imparting sweet or vanilla-like flavors to the beer. Guaiacol, contributing to smoky or burnt character, will also be significant if the barrel is charred or heavily toasted. The content and extraction of compounds from wood during aging has been shown to vary dramatically based on a number of variables. Extractable compounds vary by wood species, as well as geographical region of origin. The degree of wood seasoning as well as toast level also influences phenolic content, with higher toast levels generally showing higher phenolic content. Breweries often reuse barrels, and the history of barrel use will greatly influence the contribution of the wood to the finished beer.

• Extraction of phenolics from new oak casks during spirit maturation: impact on spirit colour
• Vanna Sanna, Luca Pretti. Effect of wine barrel ageing or sapa addition on total polyphenol content and antioxidant activities of some Italian craft beers. International Journal of Food Science & Technology 2015, 50 (3) , 700-707.
• Sanna, V., Pretti, L., 2015. Effect of wine barrel ageing or sapa addition on total polyphenol content and antioxidant activities of some Italian craft beers. Int. J. Food Sci. Technol. 50 (3), 700–707.