Christmas 2018 at Eight Degrees Brewing
Following the success of barrel-aged releases from 2017 (The Holly King and The Oak King) and 2016 (The Dukes of Burgundy trilogy), Eight Degrees Brewing release a brace of barrel-aged beauties for Christmas 2018.
Trespass Dark Farmhouse Ale with Blackberries 7.5% ABV
In September 2017 Eight Degrees did a special collaboration brew with Jamil Zainasheff, renowned author and co-owner of Heretic Brewing in San Francisco. Collaborations are all about exploring new possibilities, challenging one another to push boundaries. Jamil – author of Yeast and Brewing Classic Styles – has done it all. So the brewers looked local and, in keeping with the grand saison tradition of brewing with what’s at hand, developed a recipe to take advantage of the plentiful supply of ripe blackberries growing wild in the nearby Ballyhoura mountains.
For one of their most complex beers, they brewed a Belgian farmhouse-style ale, with premium Irish malt, Bavarian specialty malt, English hops, and a mixed fermentation comprising a saison yeast for primary with Brettanomyces yeast as a secondary fermentation. This was aged in Burgundy pinot noir and chardonnay wine barrels for 13 months, before adding even more blackberries to create a rich, dark and complex blackberry farmhouse ale. They called it Trespass: the sweetest blackberries always grow on another man’s bush.
Availability: Limited draught. 750ml bottles (RRP €8.95). Also available in a 2 x 750ml bottle gift pack (RRP €19.95) with Hopsfume Brett IPA, the complex, tart and funky 100% Brett IPA, which takes its’ name from Limerick author Kevin Barry’s dystopian debut, City of Bohane.
Blowhard Imperial Stout aged in Jameson Whiskey Barrels 12% ABV In brewing circles, trying to create a rare, best of breed beer is called a White Whale. In the same way that Captain Ahab became maniacally obsessed with chasing the elusive Moby Dick, the EDB brewers have taken a deep dive into the black to create the beer that they affectionately call Blowhard.
They have taken a classic Imperial Stout and blown all the best bits out of proportion: stuffed the mash tun to the gills, double mashed for extra flavour, used premium Irish malt, gone overboard with toasted dark malts and extra roasted barley – all before committing the beer to a month long sentence in Jameson whiskey barrels, courtesy of their friends in Irish Distillers. Only 1,000 litres bottled.
Availability: Very limited draught. 330ml bottles (RRP €4.20).
More information: www.eightdegrees.ie
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