DuClaw Brewing Company

In early spring of 2011, we brewed an Imperial Stout for the sole purpose of allowing it to age for 6 months inside Kentucky White Oak Bourbon barrels, and RETRIBUTION was born. When the last barrel of Retribution stopped filling just past the half full mark, we were hit by an epiphany: Let’s fill the barrel the remainder of the way with COLOSSUS. We had no idea how it would taste, but we decided to leave it to fate.

Retribution is the embodiment of patience, craft and perseverance. But, waiting 6 months to try our experimental blend was perhaps the ultimate exercise in these virtues. The resulting 15.5% abv 60/40 blend of Retribution and Colossus was nothing short of divine. Such an extraordinary beer requires extraordinary packaging. The bottle labels were printed on a 100 year old Chandler & Price platen press (similar to a Heidelberg) named “Bessy” by Gilah Press in Baltimore using specially selected paper to convey the handcrafted precision of the beer.

 

Because the labels were “crafted printed”, they do not have pre-applied adhesive, making them unusable in our automated bottle labeler. But, in the true spirit of our craft, our creative director and brewery staff numbered, applied the labels to the bottles, and wax sealed them by hand to complete packaging worthy of our Divine Retribution.

 

We put our hearts and souls into this beer, and it is BEYOND AMAZING. Only 168 bottles of DIVINE RETRIBUTION series #1 were produced and they will be hitting the shelves of select retailers today, so grab one of these extremely limited edition bottles before they’re gone! Oh, and in answer to the inevitable question this post will spur, YES, there will be a DIVINE RETRIBUTION series #2. What we will blend with Retribution in series #2, however, is the real question. Enjoy.

Craft be cherished…Rules be damned!

Dave