Jameson Caskmates Brings Whiskey And Stout Together

Caskmates started out with a small distribution in Ireland and was touted with the tag line of “Triple distilled, once stouted.” Like the stout, the demand for the whiskey was quickly apparent.

Perhaps the best way to appreciate Caskmates is with an imperial stout, he suggests, particularly if you’re intrigued by hops and whiskey. “If you try Jameson Original next to Caskmates, you can really tell where the hops are on the back end,” he said. “Also, the Jameson Caskmates and then the Jameson Original gives you a way of tasting the hops.”

Caulfield hopes to see Premium Stout available in the U.S. “We’re delighted to see how many people in the U.S. are excited about this collaboration. We’re trying to work with Franciscan Well about making the beer available in the U.S.  So you can taste the influence of the whiskey on the stout and of the stout on the whiskey.”

The selfsame barrels that Franciscan Well and Jameson employed for Caskmates.

For the record, the Original is added to the barrels without any hops being involved other than the influence from the stout. “The hops come from the beer resting in the barrel,” said Caulfield. “What’s really nice is the fact we only use barrels that have been previously used in the U.S. The character of the previous American spirit that has rested in there, combined with the Jameson combined with the stout it’s a nice harmony between the three. The hops come from the beer that was in there before.”

The barrels, in effect, live quadruple lives.

Not surprisingly, the experimentation now continues among Franciscan and Jameson. A pale ale influenced by Jameson barrel-aging took a bronze at the International Beer Challenge this summer. There are other concoctions in the works, said Caulfield. “There’s an IPA and the question of what would that taste like with whiskey? That’s the exciting thing – not knowing what will come out. ‘OK, let’s do an IPA edition. What impact will that have? Will it be in the same vein as the stout and have as much of a profile as the stout?’”

For now, the Caskmates stout-influenced whiskey has become one of the more inventive and intriguing new developments to come out of creative brewing.

Perhaps the best way to appreciate Caskmates is with an imperial stout, particularly if you’re intrigued by hops and whiskey, says Caulfield.