New Ohio Festival Celebrates Craft Maple Syrup and Rare Maple Bourbon Barrel Aged Beers
Photo Credit Heather Martello
Nate Bissell likes to call maple-bourbon-aged beers “some of the rarest beers on planet Earth.” And after listening to him explain how they’re made (when they’re made the legitimate way), it’s tough to argue the point.
First, you need to secure a recently drained bourbon barrel, preferably one from a top maker like Pappy Van Winkle. Then you need to fill it with genuine top-quality maple syrup, preferably from Bissell Maple Farm in Northeast Ohio. There the syrup slumbers “for as long as it takes” until it becomes bourbon barrel-aged maple syrup. Once the Bissells empty out the barrels they make their way to enthusiastic beer brewers, who fill those very same barrels with beer to age, flavor and improve. The result is beer that picks up the flavors of oak, maple, vanilla and other aromatics.
Bissell says that real maple-bourbon-aged beers are rare because real bourbon barrel-aged maple syrup is rare.
“Everybody’s
out
there
trying
to
make
their
own
version
of
bourbon
barrel-aged
maple
syrup
but
there
isn’t
any
real
set
standards,”
he
explains.
“About
a
third
of
the
market
is
folks
just
dumping
bourbon
into
syrup
and
calling
it
bourbon
barrel-aged
maple
syrup.
It’s
fraudulent.
What
we
do
here
at
my
company
is
take
something
that’s
expensive
and
make
it
more
expensive.”
Bissell
decided
to
create
an
event,
the Craft
Maple
Festival,
that
celebrates
both
craft
maple
syrup
and
maple-bourbon-aged
beers.
On
October
19-20,
he
will
partner
with
some
of
America’s
top
maple
syrup
producers
and
breweries
to
host
a
multifaceted
two-day
event
that
includes
a
craft
maple
syrup
competition,
brewer’s
dinner,
beer
tasting,
and
family
friendly
pancake
breakfast.
On Friday night there is a special gathering limited to brewers and 100 guests ($100 per person) where people will get to sample rare beers from Goose Island, Founders, Virtue Cider, Brick and Barrel, Thirsty Dog Brewing, Market Garden, Monday Night Brewing, Intuition Ale, Sierra Nevada, and Waltz Brewery. Those same beers will be available for a tasting at Saturday’s public event at the Ashtabula County Fairgrounds Expo Center (127 N. Elm St., Jefferson). Tickets are $50 and include a glass and tickets for 16 3-oz pours. Only 350 tickets will be sold.
On Saturday morning Bissell Maple Farm (82 W. Ashtabula St., Jefferson) will host a family friendly (and free) pancake breakfast and offer tours of the facility.
While most maple syrup events tend to occur in spring when the sap starts running, Bissell prefers this time of year for his new annual event.
“We decided to do it in fall because, honestly, maple is a fall flavor,” he says.