Imperial Stout Aged in Bourbon Barrels with Vanilla Bean

Our fifth prestige blend of 2023 came to be in a most circuitous way. When we sat down to sample barrels for our final two blends of the year, we had originally earmarked the cohort of barrels that became the centerpiece of this blend for an adjunct-laden stout, and we had imagined that a most roast-forward set of barrels would form the heart of a traditional, non-adjuncted beer. When we started actually blending the casks, it turned out that the roastier beers seemed better suited to adjuncting, and the rye barrel stouts were expressive and complex enough to stand on their own. Fortunately, this made for an easy switch, and You Can't Do That on Television was born again as an unadjuncted, rye whiskey heavy blend.

The nine casks that form the focal point of this blend had strong notes of caramel, milk chocolate, fig, prune, fruit cake, toffee and chocolate pudding. After 20 months in barrel, there was a mellowness to these beers, a soft chest warming alcohol note that allows grassy notes of rye whiskey and dusty cocoa to come through as well. We loved the complex array of dessert-like artifacts in this initial blend, but despite the well articulated pastry notes, the beer needed some more sweetness and vanilla-like notes. So, we went back to the wood cellar and found two casks of extra-aged porter and stout that helped round out the body, add some wood-derived vanillin, and pump in a whiff of classic Kentucky Bourbon. We hope you enjoy this holiday offering, named after one of the most unusual and offbeat shows to ever air on TV.