Imperial stout and bourbon barrels: a match made in beer heaven.

We make our Dark Rye—a drier, rye-based American imperial stout—every year. And every year, we age it in barrels. Way back in our early days, we started out using small 6-gallon barrels from our now-neighbors Reservoir Distillery. We've also used Colorado whiskey barrels and Buffalo Trace bourbon barrels in past years. And when you put beer in a barrel, well, the result is up to the barrel. Each year, every set of barrels—even ones from the same distillery—has its own character, so every year, our barrel-aged Dark Rye is deliciously different.

Tasting notes: The 2017 Bourbon Barrel–Aged Dark Rye is black in color, with a tan head that leaves rich lacing on the glass. Chocolate, tobacco, and dark stone fruit on the nose preclude the smooth mouthfeel that is slightly fuller and more viscous than the base beer. The flavor presents some sweetness and notes of whiskey, tobacco, dark fruit, and chocolate, but overall the beer remains remarkably smooth. A dry imperial stout in which barrel aging accentuates the fruity quality of the rye malt. 11.9% ABV, 42 IBU.

Grab some Mean Bird fried chicken, some River City Kettle Corn, and a glass or 750 mL bottle of Bourbon Barrel–Aged Dark Rye to get your Saturday started right!

And don’t forget, you can also find the 2017 Bourbon Barrel–Aged Dark Rye alongside a lineup of eight other Ardent stouts at our For the Love of Stout Valentine’s Day event on Tuesday, February 14th.

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Due to some technical yeast difficulties beyond our control, we had to switch the dates of our releases. Hope to see you this weekend for Bourbon Barrel–Aged Dark Rye, and next weekend for DIPA release day!