Weekend Beer: New Barrel-Aged Stouts And Award-Winning Lagers

American Craft Beer|February 12th, 2022|

(Courtesy Firestone Walker Brewing)

February is ON and craft brewers are keeping things interesting with a full slate of new beers you’re gonna want to chase down.

Parabola 2022 (Paso Robles, CA) – In mathematics, a parabola is a plane curve which is mirror-symmetrical and is approximately U-shaped. In craft beer it’s Firestone Walker’s Parabola, the brewery’s annual barrel-aged Imperial Stout release. And this year’s vintage, which was aged for a year in 12-year-old Heaven Hill bourbon barrels for the first time ever, may be one of their best.

“Historically, we’ve aged Parabola in six to eight-year-old bourbon barrels, but this time we seized the opportunity to age it in older barrels,” said Barrel Program Manager Eric Ponce. “It adds a new dimension to what people have come to know and love about Parabola.”

Paraboloid – This year, Parabola is joined by Firestone Paraboloid, a limited small-batch spinoff aged in an equal selection of rare older-stock barrels from premium spirits producers—specifically 14-year-old Old Fitzgerald bourbon barrels and 18-year-old Sazerac rye whiskey barrels. These barrels complement Parabola’s classic flavor profile adding hints of stone fruits, fudge, leather and peppery spice to the mix. Additionally, the beer was aged for a full two years prior to blending and bottling.

(Courtesy Iron Hill Brewery)

Gold Rush (Exton, Pa) – Maintaining their status as the most award-winning brewery east of the Mississippi, Iron Hill Brewery, a group of brewpubs with 20 locations in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and South Carolina, was awarded a gold medal at the 2021 Great American Beer Festival competition, for one of the world’s most popular beer styles, the Pilsner.

The pride of this expansive brewery chain, Iron Hill King’s Gold is a 5% ABV American Pilsner with smooth malt flavor and robust hop taste. And starting in February this award-winning beer is available at retail locations in NJ, PA and DE.

Texan’s #1 Craft Stout (Dallas, TX) – Lakewood Brewing is renowned for its tempting Milk Stout, one of the most popular beers in Texas, and an American Craft Beer fav. Brimming with sweet caramel aromatics and sporting a thick, milk chocolate head, Lakewood Temptress is a 9.1% ABV Imperial Milk Stout with a warm complexity that grows deeper with every sip.

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