Breaking News: Bottled Beer Release at HooDoo Brewing

I got the email announcement for this release just after I'd posted my last blog, and since it's happening tomorrow, Saturday, January 31st, this news won't wait.  Here's what the brewery had to say about the release:

MAMMOTH BOTTLES WILL RELEASE THIS SATURDAY 1/31/15.
Fresh Local Beer - it’s what we pride ourselves on at HooDoo Brewing Co. Almost every beer we make is best consumed as soon as possible after it is packaged in kegs.

There are exceptions to every rule, and our delicious barleywine blend “Mammoth" is one of those exceptions. 

With much anticipation, we are pleased to announce the release of our 2015 Mammoth Barleywine Blend. The blend, which is packaged in 750mL bottles, is a first for our 2-year old brewery. Hand-packaged, waxed and numbered, the Mammoth will be available for in-state sales ($28/bottle, limit one case per customer) at the brewery starting Saturday, January 31. To celebrate, this Saturday we will be re-releasing the Mammoth, the 2014 Barleywine and the 2013 Barleywine for glasspours and growler fills. It will be a great day to be in the Taproom!

THE TASTE
How does Mammoth taste now? Incredible. The majority of this delectable concoction was aged in Dry Fly Wheat Whiskey barrels for 11 months, then blended with a small amount of 2014 and 2013 steel-aged Barleywines. It's a big beer, weighing in at 10.6% ABV. Rich malty flavors and aromas, with light whiskey notes - all smoothed out by spending almost a year in toasted American Oak. Drink one fresh?  Absolutely. 

SAVE ONE FOR YOUR CELLAR
For an opportunity experience this beer in another flavor dimension, put a bottle away for a year. While you’re at it put a bottle away for 2 years. 5 years. Even 10+ years.

When aging hoppy beers, the hop components will degrade quickly and leave a resiny, muddled flavor.  Hoppy beers are best drank fresh.  HooDoo’s English Barleywine, released every January, is unique in that although we use hops to bitter the beer and balance out the malt sweetness, we use very little finishing hops for flavor and aroma.

This beer is a showcase of delicious Maris Otter malt.  Mammoth’s deliberate lack of finishing hops allow the malt flavors to stay at the forefront as they change and develop with time.  Dark fruit flavors will become more prevalent over the next few years and the beer will be delicious, rich, and very comparable to a fine port.

THE BOTTLE PROJECT
We would like to thank everyone who helped with this big project by staying after-hours, volunteering their time and energy so we could get these available. We touched each bottle through hand-filling, crowning, labeling, waxing, then hand-numbering. Each one is unique. We'd also like to extend a thanks to the ever-talented, local artist Brianna Reagan for creating the great artwork for the label.

Photo courtesy of HooDoo Brewing.

I know if I was in Fairbanks tomorrow, I'd definitely pick up a bottle!

Until Next Time, Cheers!