Nectar Ales, the once owned brewery by Firestone Walker, makes an appearance on the show this week with Black Xantus. This massive 11% ABV Imperial Stout is barrel aged and infused with local organic/fair-trade coffee from Jobella Coffee Roasters.
During a recent trip to Maryland, I grabbed a bottle of Heavy Seas Bourbon Barrel Aged Siren Noire – an Imperial Stout brewed with chocolate and aged in bourbon barrels (of course). I hadn’t seen this one in the Philadelphia area yet, so the choice was easy. At 9.5% ABV, I’m expecting rich chocolatey notes with some bourbon and oak undertones.
Tired Hands, the small local brewery that is gaining much attention from beer geeks everywhere, recently released their bottled Guillemot beers this past Sunday. As unfortunate as it was I could not attend, my friend Jason did and he graciously opened one of the beers. The Guillemot Nebula is blended barrel aged, soured Guillemot (dark saison), with 50% aged in Jim Bean bourbon barrels and 50% aged in Chaddsford red wine barrels.
Lavery Brewing Company out of Erie, Pennsylvania is probably one brewery most of the USA (and world) are unfamiliar with. Their Devil Bird Holiday Ale, a winter release, is an 8.5% ABV Imperial Porter aged in fresh bourbon barrels. According to Lavery, it is “based on the Irish tradition of carrying a dead wren through the streets on the day after Christmas.”
Perhaps one of our favorite breweries, The Bruery, is back on the show with their latest in barrel-aged innovation, White Chocolate. Starting with a Wheatwine base, this massive 14.25% ABV beer is aged in bourbon barrels with vanilla beans and cocoa nibs.
