Somebody New in the Old West
Breakside Brewery - SE Taproom

Some things take time to hit their stride. Like, the whole enterprise of barrel-aging beer is based around the idea of waiting for things to be ready, that what tastes fine today will taste great tomorrow. But even with our years of experience aging beers, we still get caught off guard. Case in point: the imperial rye stout that we brewed early in 2023. This hit barrels in March, and like well-behaved and patient brewers, we waited 10 months before tasting it. The beer was gnarly, y’all. Too hot, too green, too much char, just aggressive. We were legit worried that it wouldn't calm down.

Hallelujah: we were wrong! Another few months of aging, and poof. Suddenly the barrels were tasting chewy, fruity, sorta chocolate-forward, with balanced spirit and rye malt notes. One of the great fortunes of blending barrel-aged stouts the way we do is being able to wait for certain beers to go through their awkward adolescence. It was a whole new something and made for some primetime blending. All the rye stout casks needed were some companion beers that would bring some depth of sweetness. We sought out additional casks to add in notes of burnt sugar, honey, cherry, vanilla and salted caramel. Some stouts with lactose, wheat, and oats added heft to the mid palate, and suddenly we were jamming: we had a zippy blend that months earlier would have been too far before its time.

FLAVOR PROFILE
Whiskey forward, apple blossom, zingy

Availability LIMITED RELEASE OCTOBER 2024

IBU 24