As we grow as a brewery so does our beer list and other offerings. One of our newer beers is Twirling Bear Imperial Stout. It’s full of the roast flavors you would expect from a stout, but there is a lot more going on here as it’s an “Imperial” version.
The beer is very full flavored and that flavor was enhanced with oak staves infused with bourbon. As a result the beer has notes of chocolate, vanilla, caramel and plum/cherry in addition to the “roastiness”. As it ages, even more complex flavors will develop. So what makes it an Imperial Stout? A lot of grain – more than twice as much as our standard Irish Stout. All of the sweetness from the grain is balanced with hops (you won’t taste them, but trust me it’s quite a bit). The huge grain bill results in a higher alcohol level that matches the beer and season. In this case, it’s 10% abv.. The wood/bourbon combination really brings out even more complex flavors and we serve the same bourbon by the glass in the tasting room.
