Like Minds Releases

Originally posted on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1650772478268337

When we’re creating recipes at Like Minds, we start with our end result in mind and work our way back with the guiding force being balance. Whether its through acidity, through oak, hops or fruit, the hardest part of creating the beers that we do is achieving that balance over a production timeline that often lasts over a year. Therefore, when we decided to take on the Quad we knew this was going to be one of our greatest challenges to date.

Our Quad recipe is based on a beer that I have been itching to make for a few years, which is an Imperial Stout style brew that would end dry instead of sweet and have to balance bitterness from the roasted barley and a sour note. For those who have not tried the combination, bitterness and tartness are conflicting flavor experiences on the palate.

With that in mind we set out to create this beer knowing that this was the balancing act we would have to overcome. First things first, we knew we wanted to bring out a strong dark fruit flavor. Plum and blackberry have pulled this balancing act off in nature and we thought that was a great place to start. We knew we didn’t want the beer to be overly tart as this would pull away from the finished product. Lastly, we knew we wanted this beer to finish with a high ABV, while drinking lightly due to a complete fermentation and tart finish.

We agreed that a mixed fermentation was going to be the ideal way to approach this beer, this would provide the depth of flavor from the yeast while not pushing forward so we chose a Trappist ale yeast to complete our primary fermentation. This would also help us to control the acidity in the final product. After we brought the beer down a little over halfway through fermentation, we arrested fermentation and transferred the beer into its resting place - first-fill Heaven Hill Bourbon Barrels - and pitched our house brettanomyces strain and culture.

The Bourbon Barrels were chosen over our typical wine barrel fermentation due to the strong vanilla notes that can be pulled from American oak, particularly with the char of a Bourbon Barrel. Over the past year we have continued to watch this beer carefully while it matured. During our usual checks in July, the Quad had finally reached what we thought was its peak maturity. Our blender-in-chief Dave Watter put together the final blend that we feel rises to the challenge that we set for ourselves over a year ago. We couldn’t be more excited to bring this beer to you.

Final Specs

ABV - 15%
Oak - First Fill Bourbon Barrel
Style - Mixed Fermentation Quad
Sub-Style - Imperial Stout
Age - 12 Months
Bottle Conditioned - Yes
Notes - Bourbon Barrel, Vanilla, Dark Fruit on the nose. Oaky, fruity, dry mid-palate with a clean roasty, tart finish. Exceptionally easy drinking for a beer of this size.

If you can't make it out to the brewery on Saturday you can still purchase your bottles via http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3079131 This guarantees your bottles and we will hold them at the brewpub to be picked up at your convenience!

 

This is quite a surprise. Here's to hoping this holds up with all the intense aspects and doesn't become bourbon brett jet fuel. Can't say I've ever even had a brett quad, so why not try it with bourbon?

 

Rouge Bruin,Wasn’t on the original list for the bottle release today, but it was a very nice surprise. Very good!