Mutuality XXIV
Moksa Brewing Company

Double Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout blend first aged in Apple Brandy and Elijah Craig 20-year barrels for 16 and 20 months, then in Booker's 8-year bourbon barrels for an additional 12 months, with Cook Island vanilla beans.

We wanted to do something really special for our member party this year. The base is a blend of two different long-boil BA stout recipes - one spent 16 months in Apple Brandy, and at the time was showing off rich, caramel apple notes under a big rich base. The second had spent 20 months in an EC20 barrel, and had a nice mix of assertive spirit character we get from EC barrels, as well as some deeper, old wood and smoky notes we sometimes see in especially well-aged bourbon barrels. Around a year ago we got our hands on some incredibly pungent (in a good way) Booker's 8-year barrels, and selected these two, among a few others, as promising candidates to double-down on. After only 10 months of secondary aging, these two were standing out in a big way. We decided their flavor profile had room for the addition of vanilla, and selected some single-origin Cook Island beans with big marshmallow character, but also a really nice woody & spice complexity surprisingly similar to a nice bourbon. After two more months of vanilla in the barrel, the final blend is first & foremost bursting with spirit character. Huge bourbon up front, thick malty chocolate & dark fruit, and the apple brandy component melding with the vanilla into a decadent, warm finish.