Barrel Aged

Upland Peach Sour debuts

Upland Peach Barrel-Aged Sour hits shelves this month. The Indiana based brewery has been teasing this release for a little while now.

In fall of 2016, Upland soured fresh peaches from Huber’s Orchard and Winery in nearby Starlight, Indiana. Whole peaches were Continue Reading →

Posted in The Bruery, Coming Soon, Don't Miss This

The Bruery Chocolate Rain will soon be available to the general public for the first time

The Bruery Chocolate Rain will be available for public purchase for the first time in March.

One of the holy mothers of dessert beer in America started with a single cask at the first Black Tuesday release in 2009. Demand was instant, and The Bruery Chocolate Rain was finally bottled in 2011. The only downside to this beer? Only available to The Bruery Reserve Society members.

This March, it will Chocolate Rain for all. The base imperial stout features TCHO cacao nibs, and fresh vanilla beans. To top it all off, it’s huge. 19.6% alcohol by volume huge.

Rich in chocolate, vanilla, oak and bourbon, it truly puts the “imperial” in imperial stout.

On March, 24th, here’s how you get it.

  1. Ship in California. Buying online from TheBrueryStore.com, and shipping throughout Cali. The first 500 orders get special TCHO Chocolate.
  2. Tasting Room purchase. First come, First Serve on March 24th.
  3. Society Members and Preservation Society members have their own climate controlled storage for all releases throughout the year.

Again, 2017 marks the first time The Bruery Chocolate Rain will be available for public purchase, outside of society memberships.

Style: Imperial Stout (w/ Chocolate, Vanilla Beans. Barrel Aged. Bourbon.)
Availability: 750ml Bottles. Limited.
Latest Return: 3/24/17

19.6% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Boulevard Brewing, New Releases

Boulevard Requiem for a Pancake, aged in maple syrup bourbon barrels

There’s a new breakfast beer in coming to Kansas City, Missouri. Boulevard Requiem for a Pancake debuts on March 1st.

This beer starts with a smattering of oak barrels that held Woodinville Whiskey Co. rye and bourbon, before aging maple syrup. These little eight-gallon barrels were perfect for a small batch beer for tap room patrons and friends.

The brewery rested an imperial brown ale into the twice used barrels and waited.

Boulevard Requiem for a Pancake will be available to the public at the brewery on March 1st, in 12 ounce bottles.

Style: Imperial Brown Ale (Barrel Aged. Bourbon. Maple Syrup Barrels.)
Availability: 12oz Bottles
Distribution: No

Debut: 3/1/17

13.3% ABV 

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in New Releases, Don't Miss This

A 14% vanilla bean sucker punch. Orpheus Abandon All Hope

Orpheus Abandon All Hope, a barrel-aged imperial stout with vanilla beans, debuts on February 22nd.

This release is actually the fourth iteration of this stout. The road to the final release has been paved with various blends of the Atlanta brewery’s imperial stout stock, with other beers like The Ferryman, or YE Who Enter Here.

The most popular blend, and imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels with vanilla beans, has been chosen for Abandon All Hope. The beer has been aging in a blend of bourbon barrels for 12 months, with twice the amount of vanilla as previous blends.

This beer is huge. Honestly huge is an understatement. The imperial stout is downright chewy, smells of charred oak, vanilla and molasses, drinks like dessert, and laces so well it looks like the glass will never come clean.

Abandon All Hope is an overwhelming bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout. Rich notes of chocolate and oak on a pillowy blanket of vanilla come from a year spent in Woodford Reserve Double Oaked, Heaven Hill 10 year, and Jack Daniels Single Barrel Select barrels and aging on fresh vanilla beans.

Orpheus Abandon All Hope is available in 22 ounce bottles and draft. Extremely limited.

Style: Imperial Stout (w/ Vanilla Beans, Dark Candi Syrup. Barrel Aged. Bourbon.)
Hops: Apollo
Malts: 2 Row, Munich, Chocolate, Beechwood Smoked Malt, Special B, Roasted Barley, Black Patent, Honey Malt

Availability: 22oz Bottles, Draft. Limited Release
Debut: 2/22/17

13.9% ABV

 

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Martin House Brewing Company, Don't Miss This, New Releases

The borders of hell meet in Martin House Acheron

Martin House Acheron, the Fort Worth, Texas based brewery’s barrel-aged imperial stout, is now available in cans.

Does this beer look and sound a little death metal to you? Acheron in Ancient Greek means “River of Woe”, one of the rivers of Hades in Homer’s The Odyssey. In Dante’s Inferno, the Acheron river forms the border of Hell. Like we said… metal.

Martin House Acheron dark, burly, and boozy. The 12% alcohol by volume imperial stout is unblended, aged six months in whiskey barrels. The brewery finished it with a touch of brown sugar, balancing the bitterness and increasing the ABV.

…this 12% abv stout will satiate your sinuous desires for something bold, burly, boozy, and barbarous.

Martin House Acheron is available in 12 ounce cans, in 2-packs. Think of it as two extra ounces when compared to the traditional 22 ounce bomber.

Style: Imperial Stout (Brown Sugar. Barrel Aged. Whiskey.)
Hops: Columbus
Availability: 12oz Cans
Debut: Mid-February, 2017

12% ABV

PIC: Martin House Brewing

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Upland Beer, New Releases

Upland Peach Sour debuts

Upland Peach Barrel-Aged Sour hits shelves this month. The Indiana based brewery has been teasing this release for a little while now.

In fall of 2016, Upland soured fresh peaches from Huber’s Orchard and Winery in nearby Starlight, Indiana. Whole peaches were added to the brewery’s sour ale, barrel-aged for three months.

Gold and straw colors shine upon pouring, with zesty amounts of carbonation. Fresh peach aromas meld with floral and wine-like notes. Wonderful peach flavors follow in the taste, accompanied by refreshing tartness. Finish is dry, with mouth-watering tanginess and peach flavor.

Interesting to note, peaches were the first fruit Upland chose when starting a sour program in 2006.

Upland Peach Barrel-Aged Sour Ale will be available in 750 milliliter bottles and draft in the near future.

Style: American Wild/Sour Ale (w/ Peaches. Oak Aged.)
Availability: 750ml Bottles, Draft.
Debut: Mid-February, 2017

6% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Second Self Brewing Company, Coming Soon, Headlines

It’s more than just beer. It’s art. Second Self Manic Pixie Dream

It’s hard not to judge a book by it’s cover. The same goes for beer. As beer gets infinitely more creative, so has the artwork that goes along with it. Atlanta’s Second Self Beer didn’t just brew a great beer and slap a label on it. Manic Pixie Dream is a “next level” kind of collaboration.

This story starts a bit before the beer was brewed. Brewery co-founder Jason Santamaria has been a fan of Keith P. Rein’s artwork for a while. The guy is best known for the Slaughterhouse Starlets Series. Basically, he takes famous females like Winona Ryder or Taylor Swift and juxtaposes them into a murdery, Dexter-like composition. When Santamaria married his wife Liz, he noticed Keith P. Rein to be the dominant in each other’s art collection.

All Santamaria needed was a good reason to reach out to is favorite artist. As it turns out, Rein has always wanted to do a piece for a beer can. Manic Pixie Dream was born.

The Second Self team went big when it comes to the beer. The base is an 11% alcohol by volume Russian imperial stout, that has been aged in Blis barrels. The mere mention of Blis will make a beer fan salivate. Blis Gourment is a Michigan based company that ages maple syrup in bourbon barrels. After the maple syrup is drained, what you have left is a playground for one hell of an awesome beer. As an added bonus, Second Self infused locally roasted Batdorf & Bronson coffee.

Santamaria and Rein weren’t satisfied with just creating one label. Especially with a beer as complex as this one. Blis barrels are hard to come by, and recipes like this one are expensive. Ultimately, this beer is in short supply. Created simply for your own happiness. A bit like the Manic Pixie Dream Girl movie trope.

Coined in 2005 by film critic Nathan Rabin after watching Kirsten Dunst’s character in Elizabethtown, MPDG is a  “bubbly, shallow cinematic creature that exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures.” Other examples include Kate Hudson’s character in Almost Famous, Natalie Portman in Garden State, or Marilyn Monroe in Some Like it Hot.

With Manic Pixie Dream in mind, Rein drew four different iterations of Pixie. Each label breaks out a component of the beer – Coffee, Maple Syrup, Bourbon, and Grains. Besides the incredible artwork, the beer is fantastic. Truly a sipper, where the each of the components starts to pop as the beer warms. After the barrel-aging, you’re drinking at near 14% alcohol by volume beer.

Second Self is holding a special release event on February 26th where attendees can purchase all four cans. The brewery is planning on making Manic Pixie Dream a series going forward, with an evolving list of styles (including a sour/wild ale).

This is one of the few times we have found ourselves torn between the beer or the artwork that’s more exciting. A few more sips and we might just decide.

Style: Imperial Stout (w/ Coffee. Barrel Aged. Maple Syrup Bourbon.)
Availability: 16oz Cans. Brewery Only.
Debut: 2/26/17

13.9% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Monday Night Brewing, Don't Miss This, New Releases

Easily one of the brewery’s best. Monday Night Tears of My Enemies

Monday Night Tears of My Enemies debuts this month, part of the fanciest lineup in the Atlanta brewery’s arsenal – the Black Tie Series.

The Black Tie Series is home to beers like Mom Jeans, Georgian Imperial Stout, and the well-known Bourbon Barrel Drafty Kilt. The week of Valentine’s Day, it will be home to one more -Monday Night Tears of My Enemies.

RELATED: Monday Night’s New Sour Facility [PICS]

Does a scotch barrel milk stout do it for you? This “vindictive” milk stout picks up hints of smoke from the 18 year old scotch whisky barrels, and is finished with a touch of both vanilla and locally roasted Batdorf & Bronson coffee. Despite being a fantastic beer, it almost wasn’t even brewed.

Monday Night’s head brewer Peter Kiley saw a beautiful fusion of milk stout and the Macallan 18 year barrels the brewery recently acquired. A milk stout in coffee can be quite good. Throwing that beer into those sexy, hard-to-get scotch barrels? Fan-freaking-tastic. Unfortunately, Kiley found his vision didn’t have some of the powers that be salivating like he was. These barrels don’t show up at your doorstep everyday.

Perhaps even the best idea is met with a little resistance. Kiley pressed forward, and with good reason. Tears of My Enemies is an triumph for the budding brewer. Enemies starts with a burst of coffee and chocolate, and finishes silky, with smokey hints of the sexiness that is Maccallan 18. A bottle of that scotch will set you back nearly $250 dollars. Lucky for you, this creation is less than $20. If you ask us, it’s the best barrel-aged beer Monday Night has ever released. In the end, the name is pretty fitting for Kiley. Nothing worth doing is easy. You won’t find him gloating. You can taste it in ever sip.

There is nothing more sumptuous than the misfortune of your enemies. That dark, smoky taste of revenge takes over as it hits your lips, marching upon your tongue like an army towards certain victory…

Monday Night Tears of My Enemies will be a 22 ounce bottle release, the week of Valentine’s Day 2017. We suggest you track one of these down.

Style: Imperial Milk Stout (w/ Vanilla Beans, Coffee. Barrel Aged. Scotch Whisky.)
Availability: 22oz Bottles
Debut: Week of Valentine’s Day 2017

9.3% ABV

Above: Monday Night’s head brewer Peter Kiley and his creation, Tears of My Enemies. Photo: Beer Street Journal

by Reid Ramsay