COOP’s Oak Aged Imperial Stout is back
Yesterday I told you about Choc’s foray into the realm of oak-aged beer, today I’m telling you about COOP Ale Works’ return to oak-aged beer.
COOP’s seasonal brew Territorial Reserve Oak Aged Imperial Stout is back in business, my friends, and should be on tap at select establishments shortly.
I’m told by high-ranking authorities at COOP that the OAIS was purchased recently by a wholesaler and that Republic, The Drunken Fry and Tapwerks will likely scoop up most of the supply.
Here’s a description of OAIS (9% abv) that I pulled from COOP’s website:
This imperial recipe begins with a big, rich stout packed with chocolate and coffee malts as well as oatmeal, and ends after a very generous hop addition. A portion of the brew was then aged in Bulleit Bourbon barrels and the remainder was aged in our cellar. Before sending out the 2009 vintage, the two were blended for the perfect winter warmer.
The 2009 OAIS was mostly gone by January of this year, so you’ll likely only have a few months to get a taste of 2010 OAIS before having to wait for the 2011 vintage.
Choc to unveil new beer
Choc Brewing announced this week they are working on a new beer, a spin-off of their award-winning Signature Belgian-Style Quad.
That’s right, you read the label correctly. Choc is in the process of aging its Belgian Quad in French oak barrels. It will be the first time Choc has aged a beer on oak. Once the beer is ready, they will release only 1,080 numbered, corked-and-caged 750-ml (25.4 oz.) bottles, which will be the first time Choc has bottled in that fashion. Here’s an update on the beer from Choc’s Zach Prichard:
“It is a little too early to give a completely accurate taste description since the beer is still changing. We have been tasting it periodically over the last four weeks and every time it changes. We are waiting until it picks up a little more of the earth and spice notes of the oak before we bottle it. We are shooting to have it on the shelf by mid-January 2011.”
I thought of a couple questions as I was typing this post:
1. Why 1,080 bottles? Seems rather arbitrary.
2. Is the 11% OAQ the strongest beer Choc has ever brewed?
I’ve forwarded these questions along to Prichard; will let you know. Either way, mark your calendar for January and be prepared to camp out at the liquor store as if it were Black Friday.
