I was really excited when Barrel House Z launched, I loved the idea of a brewery focused on a wide variety of barrel aged beers. I feel like this is an under-explored area, there are a ton of bourbon barrel aged stouts but there are so many other potential combinations of beer style and barrel variety. If I started a brewery I’d immediately work on a series of porters, dubbels and a quadruples aged in cognac and port barrels, I think that would be a stellar combination that is underexplored. Barrel House Z has some interesting combos, but I would love to see more variety in the beers they brew, I wonder if some of these different types of barrels are hard to source. In addition to the barrel room, Barrel House Z has launched a couple of hoppy beers. It seems like it is critical for a brewery to have an IPA on draft at all times, too many beer fans will try nothing else. One of the new hop-forward offerings is Bam Bam, a double IPA brewed in collaboration with Union Brewhouse owner Tom Powers. Barrel House Z Bam Bam is available on a regular basis on draft and in 16 oz cans.
Barrel House Z Bam Bam pours clear deep orange with a small white head. The aroma is solidly hoppy, mostly citrus and tropical fruit. The flavor is also hop forward, notes of mango, orange and grapefruit along with a very mild bitterness. This is balanced by a solid malt backbone, hints of whole grain bread, biscuits and some boozy sweetness. Bam Bam is medium bodied and packs some punch at 8.8% ABV. The finish is crisp with some lingering hops and sweetness. This is a solid DIPA, big and bold, plenty of flavor. My can was just a touch undercarbonated, not sure if that was by design (for the mouthfeel) or a packaging issue, I’ll need to try another batch and compare. Regardless, definitely a beer worth trying hopefully it sells well and leads to some creative new barrel aged releases. Hoppy Boston score: 4.0/5.
Previous Barrel House Z Reviews:
Hoppy Boston 
