Breckenridge Releases First Nationwide Barrel-Aged Beer – Barrel Aged 72 Imperial
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MyBeer Buzz
From Breckenridge:
Breckenridge Brewery expands its barrel-aged offerings with the nation-wide release of Barrel Aged 72 Imperial in 22oz bottles. For the first time, the Colorado brewery will package one of its specialty barrel-aged beers in large format and ship it to all 37 states that it distributes in.
This unique release is a whiskey barrel-aged take on the brewery’s Small Batch 72 Imperial, an imperial chocolate cream stout. For every 100 bbl. batch, 400 lbs. of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory lustrous chocolate, made especially for 72 Imperial, are added to the brew. After spending a considerable amount of time in whiskey-soaked oak barrels, the finished product is molasses in color and smells of chocolate, wood, and whiskey harmoniously blended together. The beer has a dense and decadent mouthfeel and an abundance of rich flavors, including hints of sherry and dark fruit that compliment the toasted chocolate and oak notes remarkably.
Barrel Aged 72 Imperial is the first of many large format, barrel-aged beers that Breckenridge Brewery will release on a national scale. The company’s new brewing and production facility, slated to be operational in April of 2015, will house a 2000 sq. ft. cellar room for barrel-aging beers.
“It’s very exciting that we’ll have the ability to produce these unique, one-off beers at a significantly larger scale,” remarks Todd Usry, Brewmaster and Director of Brewing Operations at Breckenridge Brewery. “Until now, distribution of our barrel-aged varieties has been mostly limited to our home market due to capacity constraints. With the features in place at our new brewery, we’re going to be able to share these notable releases with consumers across the country.”
Other barrel-aged beers that the brewery is known for include Holidale, a whiskey barrel-aged version of their Christmas Ale, and Summer Cab Ride, a cabernet wine barrel-aged version of their SummerBright Ale. The brewery debuted their first barleywine, Barleywine Batch #1, last year, and will unveil Barleywine Batch #2 at Big Beers, Belgians, and Barleywines Festival in January. New releases that the brewery have hinted at for 2015 include a tequila barrel-aged version of their spring seasonal, Ophelia, which is a hoppy wheat ale, and an entire series of barrel-aged, dry-hopped variants of their popular Small Batch 471 Double IPA.
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