One of my favourite craft brewer in the Gers, L’Excuse, made L’Exhumée, a peaty beer which my girlfriend loved. After looking around, I compiled a bunch of recipes, and refined from there. The result is this peaty, whisky oak barley wine that’s both strong, complex, with a good balance between the smoke and the oak.

• 8kg Marris otter
• 1kg Carahell 50
• 400 Peat malt
• 70g Northern Brewers (40mins)
• 50g East Kent Goldings (40mins)
• 70g East Kent Goldings (5mins)
• 250g whisky oak chips
• Safale US05

OG: around 18°B

Secondary fermentation: rack along with 250g of whisky oak chips (covered in water, boiled 5 mins, tossed in the fermeter along with the water), for two months.

This is best left to age for six months, and will keep for years.

The recipe was stabilised during the first COVID-19 lockdown, hence the name “La Confinée” (“the locked down”), which mirror l’Exhumée’s.