NAME – Dark Angel
ABV – 12.3%
IBU – 46.5
STYLE – Bourbon barrel aged imperial stout brewed with dark sugar and molasses
INGREDIENTS – Water, Malted Barley, Sugar, Molasses, Hops, Yeast
PACKAGE SIZE – 330ml
A labor of love in beer form this is our first ever barrel aged beer release. Not wanting to throw an existing beer into a barrel and hope for the best we set about concocting the recipe for this beast with the sole intention of a barrel aged release.
A rather varied malt bill of 8 different malts including one so rare that the only place we could find it was in Ireland which was duly imported just for this brew then we set off on our master plan to create the most balanced barrel aged beer we could make.
We were looking for a mix of sweetness and a light spice from the malts to work with the bourbon hit and also bring in the vanilla hit from the oak in the barrel, so we dialed back on the dark malts to let the rest of the flavors work through a bit more in the mix. Dark brown sugar and molasses were added to the boil to help with a nice caramel back end on the base beer.
Fermentation was slow and steady with this one as we kept the fermentation temps lower than normal so the beer fermented at a slower rate to ensure the yeast did not rush allowing a lower attenuation on the finished beer. At this point we were over the moon with how the beer was tasting and it had not even hit the barrel yet. Cold crashed out for 4 weeks to ensure a nice clear drop out and giving us a lovely batch of clean beer to transfer over to the barrel.
Moving onto the barrel we purchased a freshly emptied bourbon barrel which had been re coopered and re charred then sat the beer in the barrel for a total of 7 months. After that 3 months in the bottle after that to ensure the flavors were just where we wanted, and we have a beer that was nearly a year in the making.
The finished product has everything you would expect and more – a sweet but malty beer with a superb oak and vanilla hit to it that follows to a smooth bourbon hit on the aftertaste.
We are struggling to part with this one it tastes so good and would love to keep it all for ourselves but sharing is caring.
Contains Gluten
