The Barrel-Aged Elephant in the Room
Why our barrel-aged program is on hold, how our DIPA releases are changing, and where our creativity is headed next
We figured it was high time to address the barrel aged elephant in the room. Some of you have noticed that we no longer offer barrel aged stouts or barleywines, and to a lesser degree, we offer fewer DIPA’s regularly than we once did.
Simply put, given the ever-changing market for beer in general, we’ve had to adjust our focus. We’d hope by now it’d be obvious that we didn’t arrive at the decision without serious consideration, as we rarely if ever, rush into anything.
The Reality of Barrel Aging
Starting with the barrel aging program - the amount of labor, time, and various other resources that went into those beers per oz of liquid is nothing short of appalling and at best financially reckless – double mash brewing with huge losses, barrel sourcing and selection, racking to barrels, maturation, blending, bottling, hand waxing etc.. the list goes on and on. All that said, as purely a passion project, it was incredible to see the results of it all, and we’ll always be proud of what we accomplished.
So, for the immediate and foreseeable, that program is on an indefinite hold. Should it return, we can also confidently state that it would likely look far different than the previous program. The beers would be infinitely more influenced by historical takes, and much less based on the massively under attenuated sugar laden bombs of the ~ 2018 era.
What’s Happening With Our DIPAs
As for the DIPA availability and selections – we continue to brew our hand selected favorites with a few one-off choices from the back catalog and offer them at the rate in which they sell through with a focus on freshness. Those beers aren’t going anywhere, but neither is single IPA or lager.
Lastly, we remain committed to the refinement of all that we do, and our creativity now often shows up in the form of our 7bbl open fermented pilot beers. All of those, while not anything stylistically like our barrel aging program, are highly intentional, smaller ABV offerings that allow us to continue to experiment and learn. Yet again, we’re still about beer for grown ups.