Sunriver Brewing Company announced today the first releases from its new Barrel Aged Beer series, and provided details on other upcoming releases. There are two branches of this series, the Wood series which features beers aged in spirit and other barrels, and the Wild series featuring wild yeasts and mixed culture barrel-aged brews.

Full press release:

Sunriver Brewing Co. is excited to announce the initial releases from our long-anticipated barrel aged beer program. The beers will be presented in 500ml bottles and extremely limited draft beginning in January 2021. The series are affectionately named “Wild” and “Wood”. The Wild Series will feature bottle conditioned beers influenced by Brettanomyces, mixed culture bacteria and spontaneous fermentations. The Wood Series will feature boldly flavored strong beers that have been conditioned in a variety of barrels, including bourbon, rum, maple, and others.

“This has been a long time coming, literally years in the making. I’m quite proud of the team’s efforts – these beers are as special as the people who make them. Ryan Galeski (Lead Brewer) and Patrick Raasch (Head Brewer) have done an outstanding job with their barrel work. We’re excited to share these unique beers with all the fans of Sunriver Brewing Company.” – Brett Thomas, Director of Brewery Operations

The first two beers just released this week are from be from the Wood Series –

Bourbon Barrel Ale began life as a robust, malt-forward base beer, its legendary origins steeped in early days of Oregon craft brewing. Carefully aged for 12 months in Kentucky’s finest bourbon barrels, the results are breathtaking. The beer displays complex notes of dried cherry, orange peel, vanilla, and caramel, with a distinctly smooth, warming finish.
12.8% ABV

Mexican Mocha Stout is a masterful blend of 12-month bourbon barrel aged imperial stout designed to emulate a Mexican mocha. A combination of coffee, vanilla, lactose, cinnamon, chocolate, and chili peppers (puya and ancho) are carefully infused into this big beer to achieve maximum flavor. This unique stout presents with sweet-heat and earthy-spicy, followed with big mocha punch.
11.5% ABV

Two additional Wood Series beers are scheduled to be released in February –

Hawaiian Imperial Stout is a masterful blend of 12-month bourbon barrel aged imperial stout that is loaded with the exotic flavors of the Hawaiian Islands. A combination of Alae Estate-grown cocoa nibs, toasted coconut, lactose, and macadamia nuts are carefully infused into this big beer to achieve maximum flavor. This unique stout presents like a collection of Hawaiian themed candies – rich, nutty, and toasty, with a bold chocolate finish.
14% ABV

Belgian Quad w/ Cherries is aged for 12 months in a combination of bourbon and whiskey barrels and blended with sweet cherries. Complex caramel, sugar, and dark fruit flavors come together with notes of rich vanilla, spicy oak, and bourbon. The beer finishes with a distinct, and complimentary, sweet cherry character.
13.7% ABV

The initial Wild Series release will be available in Spring of 2021 with the following –

Dry Hopped Brett Saison is a curious blend of fine ales from our barrel program. This beer begins with a French- style saison, conditioned in Oregon Pinot barrels with Brettanomyces. A single cask of Fuzztail Hefeweizen, barrel fermented with saison yeast and Brettanomyces, is then added. The finished blend is then lightly dry hopped with hand selected Citra and Sultana hops.
6% ABV

About Sunriver Brewing Company
Sunriver Brewing Company’s pub in the Village at Sunriver opened to rave reviews in the summer of 2012. Recognizing that the original pub would not accommodate demand, a 13,000-square foot building was purchased in the Business Park in 2014. Since that time, Sunriver Brewing Company has garnered many national and international awards for their craft beer. In February of 2016, Sunriver opened its second pub location on Galveston Avenue in Bend Oregon. The year of 2017 included a major national accomplishment with winning Small Brewing Company of the Year at the Great American Beer Festival. In 2019 Sunriver opened their third pub in the Oakway Center located in Eugene, Oregon.

I’m happy to see a program like this get off the ground at the brewery, it’s been a long time coming as Brett Thomas said in the release. As it happens, I just had an article out this week which included the Bourbon Barrel Ale; it’s quite good and intensely bourbon-forward, well worth picking up a bottle to put away for a year or two.