Cascade Brewing has barrel education with fourth generation Master Cooper

Cascade Brewing was honored to have Douglas Rennie, a fourth generation Master Cooper, visit its facility. Rennie, who formerly hailed from Glasgow, Scotland, and now resides in Napa, Calif., is the Master Cooper for world-renowned barrel maker Seguin Moreau.
 
Accompanied by the Pacific Northwest Sales Territory Manager Adam Schultz, the two spent more than two hours with Cascade’s cellar and brewery team discussing the finer points of the barrel process and giving a hands-on demonstration of how to properly care for the casks.
 
Against the background of Cascade’s 1,500+ sour beer-filled oak barrels, Rennie used his tools ever so delicately to show the team the best way to care for its treasured oaks. He informed them that the wood used in the French Oak casks come from trees that are a minimum of 150 years old; more than 60 percent of Cascade’s barrels are French Oak, including the nine foudres.
 
“We greatly appreciated Mr. Rennie’s time at Cascade,” stated Tim Larrance, vice president of sales and marketing for Cascade Brewing. “We know that his time spent with our team will benefit us greatly in helping use our oak barrels to make the best sour beer around.” 

Douglas Rennie
Master Cooper

Douglas Rennie, a fourth-generation cooper from Glasgow, Scotland, has been with Seguin Moreau Napa Cooperage since before there was a cooperage. July 2014 marked his 23rd anniversary with the company. For Rennie, coopering is about tradition and craft, doing things the same as they have been done for hundreds of years. He loves how the ancient trade has been kept, while integrating modern technology for the ease of process. “It’s about tried and true methods. You follow the rules. Respect the wood,” Rennie says. Before coming to the US, he played semi-professional football (soccer) in Scotland for 12 years.

Biograpy from http://seguinmoreaunapa.com.