Temporal’s Tristan Stewart nerds out on barrel-aged beer

Tristan Stewart recalls drinking his first sour ale. It was a barrel-aged sour from Jolly Pumpkin based in Michigan. He didn’t know what it was and didn’t understand why it was sour.

“I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it, but I just thought it was interesting,” said Tristan. “It reminded me of going to a winery and their little cave underground because it had this musty smell that was awesome.”

Intrigued, Tristan went down a research rabbit hole to learn all about how to make a really awesome barrel-aged sour beer and started brewing at home.

Not too long afterwards he started brewing with Luppolo, which is no stranger to sour beers and struck up a deal with the owners to rent brewery space so he could make his own line of barrel-aged sour beers called Temporal Artisan Ales.

Many breweries make barrel-aged beers, but Temporal is the only one doing it exclusively and after one year of existence, Tristan’s ales are getting noticed.

We caught up with Tristan at Luppolo to nerd out about the process of making a great barrel-aged beer. Disclaimer: this one is a must listen for the beer nerds out there.