Sly Fox Brewing Partners with Barcade on Chestnut Beer: Chest Bockwell 4/6

Dunkel Bock brewed with chestnut flour will be on draft at all six Barcade
locations, starting with an exclusive Sly Fox multi-tap event in Philadelphia

On Thursday, April 6, at 4 p.m. Sly Fox Brewing Company will debut Chest Bockwell, a German-style lager brewed with real chestnuts, at Barcade (1114 Frankford Avenue) in Philadelphia’s popular Fishtown neighborhood. Chest Bockwell, affectionately named after John C. Reilly’s fictional crime-fighting character in the movie Boogie Nights, is a traditional Dunkel Bock, with chestnut flour added to the mash, drawing on rich Vienna, Munich, caramel and roasted malts from Bavaria for a toasted flavor profile.

Barcade’s management staff visited Sly Fox in Pottstown, PA on February 8 to brew this special collaboration beer weighing in at 7.4% ABV; originally, they wanted to use whole chestnuts in the mash – until Sly Fox head brewer Brian O’Reilly warned of “evil forces” being locked inside the chestnuts. The two sides compromised and used chestnut flour, perfectly balancing the sweet and savory nuisances of the delicate fruit.

“Barcade has been a champion of craft beer for more than a decade, way before craft beer was cool, and brewing a beer for them is an honor,” says O’Reilly. “When we started discussing the brew with the group, the idea of a Chestnut Bock stuck out to me. It was a challenge bringing an unusual ingredient like chestnuts into such a traditional style, and I am proud to say we pulled it off. The chestnut flour really added an interesting depth to this malt-forward beer in a balanced and delicious way.”

In addition to Chest Bockwell, Barcade will be pouring a slew of Sly Fox drafts at the release party, including:360 IPA, Helles Lager, Ichor, Odyssey, O’Reilly Stout, Phoenix Pale Ale, Pikeland Pils, Royal Weisse, Route 113 IPA and Saison VOS. Chest Bockwell will be available at all six Barcade locations throughout the region (Philadelphia, PA; Jersey City, NJ; Chelsea, NY; St. Mark’s, NY; Brooklyn, NY and New Haven, CT).

“We’re very happy to announce this collaborative beer, Chest Bockwell,” says Barcade President & CEO Paul Kermizian. “We have been great fans of Sly Fox for years, and have been talking about working on an exclusive with them for some time. We really enjoy traditional German-style lagers, but also beers with unusual ingredients. Here, we balanced those conflicting interests and developed a truly flavorful beer.”

S

ly Fox is the latest craft brewery to collaborate with Barcade’s extremely limited one-off series, a project dating back to 2010. Over the years, Barcade has proudly served the following beers as part of their series (click here for complete list): Shmaltz Pastrami Pils, Captain Lawrence Simpsons Did It! IPA, Smuttynose Coily, Greenport Harbor Goth Logger, Climax Barcade Anniversary Abbey, Fisherman’s Pepper II, Captain Lawrence Black and White IPA, Victory Fall Bockwards, Harpoon Sriracha Blonde, Fisherman’s Clam Porter, Climax Bavarian Dark, as well as beers from the Sixpoint-Barcade Beer Project.