Robin Shepard
Giant Jones brewmaster Jessica Jones.
Jones with the barrels now crowding the brewery.
Giant Jones Brewing Company’s superpower has long been strong beers with lots of flavor — barleywines, IPAs, double stouts and big Belgians. But until recently, brewmaster Jessica Jones has been reluctant to dive into barrel-aging, in part because of the storage space it requires. The brewery, at Main and Brearly, is already crowded. These beers may age a year or more, and barrels cannot be easily moved once full.
But, Jones says, barrel-aging was “one more itch to scratch, and I knew I would become obsessed with it.” She loves how barrel-aging adds complex layers of wood and spirit flavor, especially to bigger beers.
A chance to create something new and different with John Mleziva, founder of nearby State Line Distillery, prompted her entry into barrel-aging. Mleziva initially offered a single oak barrel for Jones to experiment with. The barrel was from the distillery’s first batch of single malt whiskey in 2023. “I couldn’t pass up that barrel and the opportunity to do this with John. This is about neighborhood collaboration,” says Jones, who employs only State Line’s used wooden barrels for aging.
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Giant Jones' Someone To Someone.
Someone To Someone: a barrel-aged Belgian-style stout.
Their first attempt was a strong ale, similar to a Scotch ale, released in March 2024. It was followed by an Adambier (an old German style of ale) run through the same barrel. Those pilot efforts fostered bigger ideas.
Currently available is a ryewine, aged in State Line brandy barrels, spicy and bready from the rye, and warm with apple liqueur sweetness. At 10.2% ABV, it makes for a great nightcap (500 mL bottles / $10).
Someone To Someone, a barrel-aged Belgian-style stout, is fermented with a Belgian yeast and barrel-aged for a year. The beer was divided into different barrels that had been used to make aquavit, rum, peated whiskey and apple brandy respectively. Once aged, the beer was all blended back together — and the flavor begins with the anise aroma of aquavit, followed by dark, fruity notes from the Belgian yeast and the rich roasted malts of the underlying stout. The rum, brandy and whiskey barrels lend hints of spirit sweetness and light woodiness. It finishes at 10.2% ABV (500 ML bottles / $9). The beer’s name comes from the album of the same name by the all-acoustic quartet from Chicago called PlainsPeak, a favorite of brewery owners Jessica and Erika Jones.
A challenge in barrel-aging for Giant Jones is its commitment to being a certified organic brewery. Because State Line’s spirits are not MOSA Certified Organic, Jones calls the first beer from the barrels “made with organic ingredients.” If Jones uses the same barrels a second time it can be labeled as MOSA Certified Organic.
Giant Jones will release four more barrel-aged beers at the brewery’s upcoming Barrel-Aged Fest, Jan. 9-10. That event also features other barrel-aged beers from Madison breweries. Later in 2026, Giant Jones will release two more barrel-aged gems: its Belgian quadruple from rum barrels, and its Grand Porter, aged in rye whiskey barrels.
