Brewery Vivant Releasing Fat Paczki & Love Shadow 2/13

From Brewery Vivant:

Every once in a while there is a great convergence of events and festivities. This is one of those glorious years. Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras) falls on Feb. 13th. This is also the day that Grand Rapids celebrates Paczki Day. Adding to that is that fact that this lands a day before Valentine’s Day. So, we are going at it from all angles with "Love and Paczki"!! We will be releasing 2 beers: Love Shadow, our famous Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout and Fat Paczki, our paczki beer made with prune juice and powdered sugar. Both of these beers are VERY sought after and we’ll only have about 60 cases of each at the pub.
In addition to all of that wonderful beer in cans we will have 2 – yes two!! – variants of Love Shadow available on very limited draft. More on those to follow. We will also be playing some Mardi Gras party music and we’ll have some themed food specials – more on those soon as well. Stay tuned to this page and mark the date. Let the barrels and the good time roll!

Here’s the full PR:

Limited edition beers, “Fat Paczki” and “Love Shadow” to be released February 13

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN – Back by popular demand, Brewery Vivant to release “Fat Paczki” on Tuesday February 13, 2018 to coincide with Paczki Day and Mardi Gras celebrations. The 8% ABV beer is simply a classic paczki ale— an amber ale brewed with 15lbs of dried prunes and powdered sugar. Prepare for ripened plum and raisin notes, while the confectioner’s sugar adds a sweet backend mouthfeel.

This is the third year in a row the brewery has released the celebration beer. When Vivant first brewed Fat Paczki in 2015, it was just a novelty. Head brewer, Jacob Derylo admits it came about as a fun experiment. “We’re here in West Michigan,” He says, “Over half our brewing team has some Polish heritage. We were inspired by the culture and the ingredients locally available. Paczki are everywhere this time of year!” The annual release is now a fan favorite, both on draft and in 16oz pint cans only available at the Pub. The first 100 folks to order a pint at the Pub on February 13 will receive a fresh baked paczki donut from Pastry Chef, Katy Waltz. Doors open at 3pm.

Also on February 13, Brewery Vivant to release it’s highly acclaimed “Love Shadow”, the 12% ABV bourbon barrel aged Imperial stout— just in time for Valentine’s Day. The beer is available on draft and in 16oz pint cans while supplies last. As an additional treat, the brewers and kitchen staff teamed up to brew two exclusive variants of the stout. Pastry chef Katy Waltz made 5 pounds of beignets, the New Orleans French inspired donut and offered them up, along with real raspberry puree, to one of the bourbon barrels holding 53 gallons of Love Shadow. Then sous chef Vanessa Aguilar toasted baking sheets full of shredded coconut to mingle with another barrel of beer. The two versions, Raspberry Beignet Love Shadow and Toasted Coconut Love Shadow will be tapped at 3pm along with the original Love Shadow.

Love Shadow will see limited distribution throughout Michigan on draft and in pint cans in conjunction with the Pub release.

About Brewery Vivant

Brewery Vivant promotes living the good life by brewing farmhouse inspired beer, serving a from-scratch menu and building a sustainable community one beer at a time. The brewery employees around 65 employees and is located in the East Hills neighborhood of Grand Rapids, in a renovated funeral chapel built in the early 1900s. Husband and wife partners Jason and Kris Spaulding opened the doors for business in December of 2010. Vivant beers are distributed throughout Michigan and Massachusetts. They are the first commercial brewery in the nation to receive Silver LEED Certification from the USGBC. Additionally they are 100% renewably powered, a gold ­level Bicycle Friendly Business, and are a certified B Corporation. Beer the Change®!