Craft Beer Time

03/11/2026

Some beers you drink. Others you explore.

Land of Springs is a rum barrel-aged Belgian-style ale that slowly opens up the longer it sits in the glass. Sweet candi sugar, oak, molasses, and honey rise from the glass first. Then the flavor starts unfolding: caramel, raisin, light plum, maple sweetness, and dry molasses layered with overripe banana, mellow kiwi, and touches of red berry.

Vanilla and oak carry through the finish with a subtle rum warmth that lingers. At 14.3% ABV this one isn’t meant to be rushed. Let it warm, take slow sips, and enjoy the layers as they keep revealing themselves.

03/08/2026

Cold Runnings pours a rich golden amber with a soft white head and a bright, inviting glow in the glass. The aroma opens with warm notes of honey, light caramel, and toasted malt, followed by a gentle hint of oak and bourbon from its time in the barrel.

The flavor is smooth and layered. Sweet malt and honey lead the way, balanced by soft caramel and a light touch of vanilla from the barrel. The whiskey presence is subtle but warming, adding depth without overwhelming the beer. It finishes clean, slightly sweet, and incredibly drinkable for a barrel aged brew.

A beautiful balance of malt, barrel, and warmth.

🍺 Cold Runnings
📍 Town Hall Brewery

03/08/2026

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

03/08/2026

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.

03/08/2026

Liquid midnight in a glass.

Double Twisted Trace pours jet black with a thick tan head and a slow oily swirl that clings to the sides of the snifter. Big aromas of chocolate, oak, and bourbon rise up first, followed by soft vanilla and a hint of charred malt. Each sip brings layers of rich roasted malt, dark chocolate, and warm whiskey, with the oak tying everything together and leaving a long, warming finish.

This is the kind of stout you take your time with. A slow sipper built for quiet moments and big flavors.

🍺 Double Twisted Trace
📍 Town Hall Brewery

03/08/2026

Just opened a crowler of Town Hall Brewery Manhattan Reserve and this one is something special.

Inspired by the classic Manhattan cocktail, it blends tart Michigan cherries with a Belgian-style Grand Cru aged in bourbon barrels from two Kentucky distilleries. The result is a deep crimson sipper loaded with jammy cherries, caramel, candi sugar, and soft notes of bourbon and oak. At 13% ABV, it’s rich but incredibly smooth, with the cherries popping in the finish before settling into a warm whiskey character.

It really does capture the spirit of a Manhattan, but with far more depth and layers than the cocktail itself.

If you’re lucky enough to come across this one, grab it. It’s a stunning sipper that deserves a slow pour in a proper glass. 🍒🍺

Town Hall Brewery’s Manhattan Reserve is a beer that feels tailor made for a slow evening and a proper glass. Inspired by the classic Manhattan cocktail,

03/08/2026

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.

03/08/2026

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.

03/03/2026

Foolish Angel has officially landed in my glass again.

Town Hall Brewery’s barrel aged Belgian Quadrupel comes in at 13.7% ABV and drinks exactly how you want a big winter sipper to drink.

Deep mahogany pour.
Belgian yeast and candi sugar on the nose.
Dates, red apple, caramel, warm whiskey, soft vanilla, and just enough oak to dry it out.

It opens up beautifully as it warms, with layer after layer revealing itself. This isn’t a crushable beer. It’s a slow pour, a proper glass, and a settle in kind of night.

One I look forward to every year. 🍺

03/01/2026

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. 🍰🔥

02/17/2026

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 🍺

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