Tomorrow, February 26 from noon to 5PM
From Chris at Iron Hill
So I teased you a few days ago with the “Barrels, Bourbon and Bugs” poster. I wanted to get it on your radar and in your calender. Below is the complete list of what you have to look forward to in a few weeks. But before that, a disclaimer on our friend “Brett”.
Brett is funky, as in weird and for a lot of people, hard to like. I’m not talking about your brother-in-law or that guy in accounting, I’m talking about Brettanomyces. Brett is a “wild” yeast, meaning its something we as brewers normally try to keep out of our beer. Just like other yeasts it turns sugar into CO2 and alcohol, but it produces a lot of flavors you normally don’t get from brewer’s yeast. If you’re not ready for them, these flavors can be an assault on your palate. For for a small part of the beer drinking community (mostly the über geeks) these flavors are heaven. They’re tart, sometimes even sour. And beyond that they elicit descriptions you’d never think to use in a food description; barnyard, leather, horse blanket, sweat sock, FUNK. Anyhow you may want to ask for a single sample before you commit to the sampler of brett beers. You definitely want to ask for a sample before you commit to a full glass.
Don’t let the disclaimer scare you away from this event. For those of you who aren’t into Brett, we’ll also be pouring a great selection of Bourbon-aged beers. Here’s the list;
THE WILD BEERS
Heywood – Strong Belgian Golden Ale fermented in oak with 100% Brett L. Tart, dry, sour, phenolic and funky. 7.5% abv
Eddy – Strong Belgian Golden Ale fermented with the Duvel strain in stainless, then spiked with Brett L and aged in oak. Dry, fruity and phenolic with a refreshing tartness. 7.5% abv
Brett Quad – Strong Belgian Dark Ale fermented in stainless then spiked with Brett L and aged in oak. Rich, malty and complex with just a hint of fruitiness and mild phenols. 10.0 % abv
Brett Pete’s Celebration – Strong Belgian Dark Ale fermented in stainless, then spiked with Brett L and aged in oak. Malt complexity mingles with a touch of spiciness and pie cherry aroma from the Brett and a warming alcohol character. 11.0% abv
Wine Barrel Wee Heavy – Strong Scotch Ale fermented in stainless then aged in a freshly emptied Pinot Noir barrel spiked with Brett L. Rich malt character and a touch of roast complimented by a subtle but distinct red wine character and spicy phenolic notes. 8.8% abv
F.red Flemish Red Ale – Malty reddish-brown ale fermented in stainless with the Roselare blend then aged in used Pinot Noir barrels for 9 months. Malt sweetness and toastiness followed by an assertive but pleasant sourness. 5.3% abv
THE BOURBON BEERS
Porter – Our award-winning Pig Iron Porter aged in bourbon barrels with whole vanilla beans. Roasty malt and pronounced bourbon flavors with a nice vanilla aroma, served on nitrogen. 6.0% abv
Eisenhugel – Imperial Weizenbock aged in bourbon barrels. Rich and complex due to a huge percentage of specialty malts and Bavarian ale yeast with the added character of wood and bourbon. 11.0% abv
Wee Heavy – Our Strong Scotch Ale, aged in Four Roses bourbon barrels. A distinct sweet malt character entwines with bourbon and vanilla flavors. 9.0% abv
Imperial Pumpkin Ale – Big notes of bourbon and vanilla layered with pumpkin pie spices backed by a firm caramel malt body. 10.0% abv
Winter Warmer – Strong dark ale finished with winter spices and aged in a bourbon barrel. Christmas in February. 8.0% abv
Pete’s Celebration – As if this beer weren’t already rich enough… Big, chewy Belgian Strong Ale aged in used Bourbon barrels. 10.3% abv
They’ll be offering two separate samplers of all of the wild beers and all of the bourbon beers.
Each will be $12.00 for 4 oz of each of the 6 beers.