A Double IPA Blended with a Barrel-Aged Belgian-Style Tripel

Collaborators: John Harris, Founder & Brewmaster, Ecliptic Brewing / Luke & Walt Dickinson, Co-Founders & Brewmasters, Wicked Weed Brewing / Mitch Steele, Brewmaster, Stone Brewing Co.

It seemed no single beer could adequately convey the collective talents of Portland, Oregon brewing legend and Ecliptic Brewing founder John Harris; Luke and Walt Dickinson, the brewmaster duo behind North Carolina’s Wicked Weed Brewing; and Stone Brewmaster Mitch Steele. So, this veritable triad of power opted to brew TWO beers. The first was a traditional Belgian-style tripel aged four months in oak barrels that originally housed red wine, then tequila. It was then blended at a one-fourth to three-fourths ratio with a freshly brewed West Coast double IPA to create this beer. A variety of diverse flavors coalesce into something more unique than any one beer our trio could have conceived.

This beer is very complex. The idea of creating a beer blend that’s 25% traditional Belgian tripel (half of which was aged in red wine barrels that had been most recently used for aging tequila) and 75% modern double IPA was inspired by all three brewers’ love of traditional beer styles and pushing the envelope with new beers. The resulting beer drinks like a cross between a double IPA, a barrel-aged barley wine and a Belgian tripel. There are elements of all three and perceptions of the beer change as it warms.