Our first Foeder arrived!
Foeders (pronounced FOOD-er) are giant oak barrels used for
aging wine. Brewers use oak Foeders for aging beer. The process works similarly
to using regular oak barrels, but in larger quantities. As our sour-head
population grows among the craft beer industry, keeping up with the demand for
sours is more difficult, making a foeder a helpful piece of equipment.
Our Foeder is came all the way from a winery in Washington
State, where it was used to age red wine. Foeders come in all shapes and sizes,
ranging from 7 barrels to 100 barrels. Our little Foeder can fit 25 barrels; a
perfect size for a brewery of our 15-barrel brewhouse.
Dahlia will be the first beer to go
into the Foeder, and it will be expected to appear in the last week
in May! After the first couple of batches we will use it to age sours.
