It’s the time of year when sweet, malty, rich, alcohol-warm beers seem just right. One that pairs well with a toasty outside campfire is S’Morror, a bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout from The Brewing Projekt in Eau Claire. As its name suggests, it is rich in chocolate, graham cracker, vanilla and marshmallow flavors, wrapped in a boozy blanket of bourbon barrel. It’s strong at 12.9% ABV ($22/500mL bottle).
Kirby Nelson of the Wisconsin Brewing Company is planning to release a barleywine for the winter solstice. Nelson did the brewing in late October using the five-barrel system of the Lake Louie brewhouse at Wisconsin Brewing Park in Oconomowoc. It is an English-style barleywine that Nelson calls a “big malt monster of a beer;” it features the bready sweetness of Maris Otter malt and is expected to finish at around 9% ABV. Watch for it and a new wild rice doppelbock on tap in the Wisconsin Brewing’s Verona taproom by Dec. 21 for the brewery’s solstice celebration complete with bonfire if weather permits. Both are taproom-only beers and yet to be named or have prices set.
For its 30th anniversary, the Great Dane Pub and Brewing is celebrating with the release of Old London Stock Ale. This old British style goes back to the 1700s. Stock ale is a term sometimes associated with beers that were aged, sometimes blended with younger beers to last longer. Head brewer Eric Brusewitz says the Great Dane’s take on the style is similar to a barleywine. It was brewed in fall 2019; about half of the batch was placed into cabernet wine barrels, where it has been since. Deep layers of malt and dark fruitiness emerge as it warms. It finishes at 8.8% ABV ($9/12-ounce glass). This is a limited release beer on tap at all Great Dane locations, but by late this month check the Great Dane website to see which of the pubs still have some left. The pubs are also featuring several vintages of the Great Dane’s Old Scratch barleywine, some with several years of extended aging in bourbon barrels.
Bill Morgan at Full Mile Beer Company and Kitchen has teamed up with Clint Lohman of Working Draft Beer Company to make a smoked helles. The light-bodied golden lager has subtle smoked qualities, yet it doesn’t veer far from traditional crisp clean German helles character. I got an early taste of it, halfway through its cold lagering phase, and it was already easy drinking, smooth and approachable. In addition to a blend of smoke and breadiness from the malt, the beer has crisp herbal bitterness from German Hallertau hops and is fermented with German lager yeast that leaves a clean finish, allowing the smoked malt to linger. It gets about a month and a half of total lagering time before being tapped — attention to detail that brings more balance to the beer.
The collaboration builds on previous joint brews between the two like the smoked weizen the two brewed last spring.This is the first smoked helles lager for Morgan, while Lohman has turned out a handful, notably last fall’s Blue Plume. Here the smoke is held in check as an accent that complements the sweetness of malt. Smoked helles is expected to hit the taps at Full Mile and Working Draft by mid-December ($7/glass).
