Buoy Beer Releases Decapitator Barrel-aged Doppelbock

Buoy Beer Releases Third Vintage of Decapitator Barrel-aged Doppelbock

Decapitator hits the markets in Oregon and Washington

ASTORIA, OREGON – Buoy Beer Company released its third vintage of Decapitator Barrel-aged Doppelbock, a part of the River Barrel Small Batch series. Repeating the base recipe every year, each version of Decapitator takes on unique flavors from the procured barrels and time barreled. Buoy Beer’s 2021 version was aged in a variety of bourbon barrels for 8 months, producing toasted vanilla and dried fruit aromatics with a smooth lager finish.

Alex Shores & Kyle Fosbinder transferring the Decapitator from barrels.

“I remember the cold days in early spring when we got these bourbon barrels from Westward Whiskey,” says Toby Armstrong, Lead Brewer. “I was going through them with another brewer, popping the bungs off and prepping them to be filled, and we both could tell that this was going to be something special. The sweet, piercingly boozy smell of oak and whisky was like the perfect match for the young doppelbock we had been preparing and tasting over the past couple of months.”

Label artwork for the 2021 Decapitator was done by Corrine Lent, a paper, clay and fiber artist in Portland OR. The graphic is a twist on her whimsical style depicting a goat caught in a “sawed in half” illusion gone wrong.

Decapitator Barrel-aged Doppelbock is available in 500ml refillable bottles throughout Oregon and Washington. Many say bringing a Decapitator home from the bottle shop and sipping it by the fireplace is like olfactory deja vu. The long oak aging brings out rich, toasty flavors of vanilla, dark cherry, and rum cake, and its dry finish pulls you in for another sip.