Big Sky Brewing To Release Ivan The Terrible in 4-Packs

Big Sky brewing will release Ivan The Terrible in 4-packs.  The imperial stout will hit retail shelves the week of September 22nd and is known among craft consumers for its notes of coffee, bittersweet chocolate, and roasted cocoa.

The Missoula Montana based brewery first developed this recipe in 1996 when a Moose Drool recipe went awry. Head brewer, Matt Long recalls the scene clearly: “the power went out and I walked into the brewhouse to one of my co-workers straining dark malt through a tied together Moose Drool tee shirt. Even for us, this seemed a little weird. The gravity was too high for Moose Drool, so we ran with it and added other the dark malts to create our first imperial stout.” 18 years later Ivan the Terrible still holds true to a traditional English style imperial stout.

Ivan Terrible has long been a Big Sky Brewing Company taproom favorite. The brewery has produced the beer every year since its humble beginning, with the exception of 2011. The beer’s loyal fans were disappointed in its disappearance in the same year. Long states: ”We definitely heard from some angry Ivan fans. It was probably the equivalent of going to a Skynard concert and not hearing Free Bird.” The arrival of the four-packs should more than please the beer’s loyal fans.

4-packs are a popular format for stronger beers–such as imperial stouts–due to the package size and convenience. The 12 ounce bottles allow the opportunity to have a big beer without committing to 22 ounce or 750 milliliter alternatives. “We’ve always been committed to creating packaging that balances the integrity of our product with our customer needs. It’s the reason we can, and it’s the reason we’re offering four-packs of Ivan,” stated Long.