This Saturday, November 15 at noon, Reuben’s Brews releases its new batch of Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout. When the brewery opened in 2012, among the first beers it brewed was an Imperial Stout, a beer destined to go straight into bourbon barrels. That first version of BBIS was release in October of 2013 and earned some impressive awards, including a gold medal at the World Beer Championships.
But that was then and this is now. Will the 2014 batch of BBIS live up to the lofty expectations set by its predecessor? There’s an easy way to find out. Stop by the brewery on Saturday and judge for yourself. Below I share the complete story of this beer in the words of Adam Robbings, the owner and brewmaster at Reuben’s Brews.
As originally published on the Reuben’s Brews blog:
In October 2013 we released our first batch of our Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout (BBIS). We brewed an Imperial Stout specifically for barrel aging back in 2012, just a few months after we opened. We sourced the barrels, gave the beer time, and just over a year from when the beer was brewed it was released. That was an amazing day – we reduced the bottle limit halfway through and all the bottles were still gone in an hour. But we had the beer on tap too, so everyone could try it. Thank you again to everyone who came!
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The beer was well received that day, and it also picked up some nice accolades in the following months – winning Best Barrel Aged Beer in the Pacific Northwest in the US Beer Tasting Championships, and a Gold Medal at the World Beer Championships.
But we always want to get better! We managed to source 30 year old barrels for this year’s batch so the barrel character of this beer is really rounded, chocolatey and deep. We also changed the recipe just slightly to give the brew a little more roast backbone. This batch was a blend of four barrels, and is pouring nice and full with rich chocolate, vanilla and bourbon. We have all the elements of the barrel, bourbon and base beer in this blend – exactly what we’re looking for.
We’re releasing bottles of our 2014 Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout (BBIS) on Saturday, Nov. 15 at noon in the taproom. The wax-dipped 22oz bottles will be available on a first-come/first-served basis. We have a few more cases available than last year – but not a lot – so we’re anticipating a limit of three bottles per person. The price will continue to be the same as last year at $15 a bottle. Because it is a limited release it will be just taproom availability.
To celebrate the release on the 15th we’ll have some additional special beers on tap and Burgerphenia will be with us serving food – including some breakfast sandwiches for the early starters! On tap we’ll have the 2014 BBIS, it’s base beer – the 2014 non-barrel aged Imperial Stout, and we’ll bring out one 1/6BBL of the 2013 BBIS. After this, we only have one more 1/6 BBL of the 2013 BBIS. We’ll also pour the parti-gyle beer “Emperor’s Son” – the beer we brewed from the second runnings from the Imperial Stout. That alone made a 5% beer!
Thank you for your continued support, and we hope you enjoy the 2014 Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout.
Cheers, Adam
