DuClaw Brewing Company

Tomorrow at the MD Brewer’s Springfest in Frederick we will be unveiling our second release in our eXile series.  eXile Batch #2 is a…..Imperial Belgian Wit (yep Sawtooth’s big brother, hence the big bad wolf hints.  I know, very sly of me).  It is just above 7% abv, with quite nice spicing, but man is it drinkable.  So if you ever find yourself on a hot day and thought “boy, I wish I had a high alcohol beer that was awesome and quenched my thirst”, well we have the beer for you. So come out tomorrow to the Springfest and get the first taste before it goes on tap at the units.  Oh, the units tap date, almost forgot.  That would be Thursday June 10th, 11am.

And speaking of the Springfest, we have one hell of a lineup of vintage beers.  We are bringing 16 beers in all.  Here is the list:

1) 2009 Mayhem

2) 2008 13 Degrees

3) 2007 31

4) 2005 Repent

5) 2007 Sawtooth

6) 2006 Devil’s Milk

7) 2008 Naked Fish

8) 2008 Blackout

9) 2006 Blackjack Stout

10) 2009 Pax Nemesis

11) 2008 Twisted Kilt

12) 2007 Mad Bishop

13) 2010 Serum Double IPA

14) 2004 Misery Wheat Wine

15) eXile #1 Imperial Chocolate Rye Porter

16) eXile #2 Imperial Wit

So, the second batch of our eXile series has been in the tank for a little over a week and a half.  I tasted it Tuesday of last week and was quite pleased with it.  What style is it you ask?  Well, you are going to have to wait till I post the launch date (which you will see here first!).  Here is another clue though “grote boze wolf”.  Language matters :)

One other thing.  We have still not officially committed to a style for our 3rd eXile series.  Post your comments for what you like to see.

Hope you had a good weekend!

Cheers,

Dave

Well a race that was much more exciting that the Kentucky Derby was finished this week.  That is right, the Vote for the Bourbon Barrel Aged Black Jack! It was a tough fight, all the way to the end.  The lead went back and forth a couple times, and the comments were intense (somehow we even defined a new word ‘Stoutie’.  Look it up in the Urban Dictionary).  In the end, Arundel Mills just edged Bel Air out for the keg.  It was a hard fought fight by all, and all should be proud.  But a special congratulations goes to the Mills crowd, enjoy the sweet, sweet taste of victory.  Well at least about 125 pints of it!!!

Well gotta go, as my boy just took a good spill and the tears are rolling!

Cheers,

Dave

We are almost done applying labels to our Pax Nemesis and Black Jack Stout bottles.  They should ship to the distributor this week and will be hitting retailers shelves next week.  I am sure most of you are familiar with Black Jack, but only a few got to taste Pax at the last year’s BAM Octoberfest. So with that in mind, I am going to give you my thoughts on the beer.  First lets start with some facts:  1) it is an Imperial Alt Ale, 2) it is 11% alcohol 3) it is named after the Greek goddess of divine balance.  I have attached our information sheets so you can get the low-down on what an Imperial Alt is.

Now, my opinions.  I have never tasted a beer that is so drinkable with an alcohol content 8% or higher.  The malt flavor is mellow, not sweet or overpowering, with a slight caramel hint.  The hop presence is there, but just enough and certainly not overly pronounced.  It has a clean, slightly crisp overall flavor with subtle ale esters.  And all in all, you will be hard pressed to find that 11% alcohol. All this provides and amazing balance to this high alcohol beer (hence the reference to the goddess).  This is why we chose to use the Altbier as a base to make an imperial.  We were attempting, and I think succeeded, to make a sublimely drinkable imperial ale.  So, even though Nemesis is 11%, don’t expect it to be massive and in your face.  But be careful, because even though this is easy to enjoy, karma will catch up (most likely the next day around 8am).

The email touting the release is not scheduled to go out until mid next week, so you blog readers have the jump.  Not sure how quick it will get from the distributor to the retailers, so you might want to call them to see if they have it, or better yet tell them to get it.

Pax Nemesis Info Sheet
Black Jack Stout Info Sheet