Coming Soon! Unchained 16- Herkulean Woods

Sounds interesting! Definitely looking forward to the release in late August

 

I'm in!

 

Anyone see this around yet? Anyone try it?

 

they had it at cultivate yesterday but I went for the cask saga instead

 

Excellent video. I think it is great they spend the time and effort to do videos like this. Very informative. Looking forward to trying this.

 

Tantalizing tweet: https://twitter.com/summitbeer/status/507927348835266561

Herkulean Woods being added to cognac barrels!

 

Sept 14 at the Turf Club for the gastro non grata tarnation show

 

Started hitting stores today.

 

So did all of it go into barrels for a while or just a small portion of it?

 

Hopefully, @summitbeer will jump in and answer that.

 

I tried this at Summit a few weeks back and it was tasty. Summit also had this on a firkin last Friday and that was tasty too.

 

I don't think anything that was bottled spent time in barrels. From what I gathered, a portion of this was held back (not packaged) and then put into cognac barrels to be aged for a while (and I assume released at a later date).

 

@ZAP Thanks for the nice words about the video(s). The video element of our social media and promotions is my personal favorite part of the gig at Summit and there will be a larger focus on videos in late 2014 and moving into 2015.

@SlightlyGrey thanks for the poke!

@Ejayz / @BottleCaps80 / Everyone on the thread.... Herkulean Woods - as bottled and kegged - is "straight," no barreling, etc. It was brewed with the maple syrup, spruce tips, high-alpha Herkules hops and experimental 05256 -- the combination of which imparts a clean, yet intense bitterness with citrusy spruce notes from the young/new spruce tips (opposed to ultra piney/resinous vibe that would come from more mature spruce boughs, etc.). That is to say, we've been enjoying it a LOT at the brewery.

So that bottled/kegged supply is about 99% of the beer that will hit the market. The last 13 bbls or so were put into a dozen-plus firkins by brewers Christian Dixon and Tom Mondor with cask addition combinations including oak spirals, more dry hops, Makers Mark soaked oak cubes, more spruce tips, etc. These will be featured at the Summit Beer Hall and bars both in the Twin Cities Metro and out-of-state in the coming weeks. The best way to know when those are being tapped is keeping up with our FB and TW accounts. As far as that badass cognac barrel (drooling!), that was the last 55-ish gallons of Herkulean Woods. It will rest in there for about a month or so. I'm not 100% sure if it will then be racked, carb'd and kegged ... or served via cask. We'll all just have to wait and see. Regardless, I'm betting a portion of it will be served at the Summit Beer Hall.

Also, for what it's worth - I have tagged one of the oak spiral firkins for Autumn Brew Review.

Cheers, all!
Chip, video/social media dude @ Summit

 

I sampled this last night at the Brews and Canoes tasting event. It was very tasty. Great hop flavor without being too overpowering. The spruce comes through but the maple syrup steals the show. I will be looking for this again for sure.

 

Is this available in liquor stores yet?

 

Lake Wine and Cheese tweeted they have it

 

Bought a single over the weekend and tried it tonight--not my thing at all. Nice malt and maple flavor, but I thought the spruce and hops gave it an unpleasant bitterness.

 

Landed in Madison today.

 

This is a seriously piney beer. Wow the hops are dominant. Expected more malt.