Flat 12’s Winter Wood Festival A Showcase of The Wild, Weird & Wonderful

I wouldn’t call Saturday’s Winter Wood Festival at Flat12 Bierwerks a “festival,” per se. Instead, I’d call it a showcase. Not that Winter Wood wasn’t an awesome gathering for anyone interested in the most diverse collection of barrel-aged beers this writer has ever seen, because it was. But to me, the word “festival” implies that there’s something else going on, something else worth your attention. Music, food, art, a 1930s strongman juggling chainsaws, something else to focus on besides what brings us to beer festivals: the beer.

Winter Wood, however, with its three small tables in Flat12’s separate cold room, simply wanted to show you the best it had. And show it did.

A few months back, I made the conscious decision, when I go to festivals, to get as weird as possible. That is, I stopped going straight for the high IBU/ABV IPA I knew I’d like. Instead, I go for any beer I know is unique to the festival I’m at. Give me the firkins, the barrel-aged, the sours, anything that is not readily available or that I may never see again.

Winter Wood did just that, showing you the best barrel-aged beers the Indianapolis brewery has to offer. Does a Russian Imperial Stout aged in Pappy Van Winkle 23 year barrels interest you? Or a Flat 12 Walkabout Pale Ale soured in red wine barrels? Hell, the free bullet with ticket purchase would have been enough to bring me down to the brewery this past Saturday.

What Winter Wood did so well, beyond offering rare beers with incredibly unique flavors and builds, was that it had multiple types of beers for fans of all styles. You see, when people hear the phrase “barrel-aged,” they usually assume a big, dark, boozy beer, with high flavors of vanilla, chocolate, or, well, bourbon. Now, this is somewhat fair, as evidenced by the five different bourbon barrel stouts and porters I have aging in my apartment now (you all are invited to my party when I crack them open sometime around July 2016).