An exciting new collaboration was announced Monday, June 18 by Berkshire Mountain Distillers, Inc. (BMD) and Samuel Adams. In a press release the two beverage companies revealed their intention to use two Samuel Adams brews, distill them and release them as triple distilled whiskies. The two brews to get the whisky treatment will be Samuel Adams’ flagship Boston Lager and the newer c. Once distilled the whiskies will be wood barrel aged until ready sometime in 2015.
The brewer and distiller expect two very different whiskies to emerge from the lengthy and labor-intensive process of distilling. According to the press release, “The distilled Samuel Adams Boston Lager, noted for its upfront malt and earthy hop flavors, will then age for two years in vintage wooden bourbon barrels, generating a smooth whiskey with sweet fruity ester notes and a very slight bitterness. The distilled Samuel Adams Cinder Bock, a fiery rauchbier/bock combination, will age for two years in wooden, oak barrels, some previously used for extreme beer, Samuel Adams Utopias®, producing a very rich, bold whiskey.”
Once the whisky is removed from the barrels, they will make their way to the Samuel Adams brewery where they will be used for a future, barrel-aged brew.
And, as if that is not enough beer from the grand-daddy of craft beer breweries, District Manager for the Boston Beer Company, Blake Skebe shared a few other upcoming treats.
Look for a new, refreshing summer brew dubbed Porch Rocker to quench your summer thirst. This German-style Radler is a lively mixture of Helles-style beer and German-style lemonade. The drink widely attributed to have been first concocted by the Munich gastronomer Franz Xaver Kugler in 1922.
Another new offering from Sam Adams is the IPA Hopology 12-pack that contains two of each IPA. Included in the convenient pack are: Latitude 48 IPA (an India pale ale), Third Voyage (a double IPA), Dark Depths (a Baltic IPA), Tasman Red (a red IPA), Whitewater IPA (a hybrid of an IPA and a witbier), and a brand-new beer called Grumpy Monk, a Belgian IPA.
Both Porch Rocker and the IPA Hopology 12-pack are available now in stores around the First Coast.
A little further down the road, Sam Adams has a few things for you to look forward to like New World Tripel, 13th Hour Stout, and Stony Brook Red – all sampled at the Samuel Adams tasting event at Total Wine last month – will be available in August. And last but not least, look for a couple of additions to the Angry Orchard Cider series of brews: Iceman and Strawman. Details are scarce on these right now, but watch for more details in the future.
With all of this going on at Sam Adams one might wonder how they have time to do anything else. But, be assured, there will be a lot more to come. The brewer intends to release as many as 85 new products this year and does not intend to slow down.
The ATL Beer Guy 