It has been 240 days since we released Derivation Blend #8 for on-site enjoyment at The Side Project Cellar and Brewery tasting room. It wasn't that we wanted to wait this long before releasing another Derivation blend, it has just taken this long for the barrels and beer to find their spot and flavors for what I wanted this new blend to be.
It is no secret that I love cinnamon in stouts, and that ingredient played in to the choice we made when selecting barrels for this blend. Searching for barrels that showcased rich chocolate tones and then also finding some mature stouts in BLiS Bourbon Maple barrels and a cinnamon whiskey barrel, led us to the final blend that would be infused with freshly ground cinnamon and Vermont maple syrup.
Although our production has grown and our bourbon/whiskey/rum barrel stock of barrel-aged stouts has grown to more than 250, our Derivation blends continue to be hand-selected small batches where each individual component represent a purpose in the final blend.
For Derivation Blend #9, the blend consists of:
31% "Oats Recipe" - Our Imperial Oatmeal Stout recipe aged for 13 months in Rum Barrels
33% "O.W.K. Recipe" - Our Massive Imperial Stout recipe aged for 16 months in BLiS Maple Bourbon Barrels
36% "Maple Recipe" - Our Imperial Stout recipe with Maple Syrup added during fermentation and then aged for 13 months in a Cinnamon Whiskey Barrel and Willett Bourbon Barrel
These barrels were blended and then further infused with a thoughtful amount of freshly ground cinnamon and Vermont maple syrup at levels that provided a harmonious experience on the palate of cinnamon, maple, barrel roast, vanilla, almond, dark and milk chocolate, coffee, bourbon and caramelized rum.
This example of our Imperial Stout blending will be available for on-site enjoyment starting Saturday, August 4th at both the Brewery tasting room and The Side Project Cellar. We will be dividing up the batch so it will be available equally at both locations and on Sunday at the Brewery as well. If any is left after the weekend, it will be available starting the following Tuesday at The Cellar.
Thanks again for reading our blog and for your love of our small, niche brewery.
Cheers,
Cory and Karen King
15 LIKES
0 comments (click to read or post):
Post a Comment
Please leave a comment...I do moderate each comment so it may not appear immediately...and please be nice! You can also comment using Disqus (below) or even comment directly on Facebook (bottom).