Stone Stochasticity Project Varna Necropolis

The marriage of a beer fermented with a Belgian yeast strain combined with a deliberate and specific aging period in bourbon barrels often produces an unexpected result. So it is with this latest beer from our Stochasticity Project series.The base beer for this project was a hoppy Belgian golden ale, a beer brewed with pale malt, flaked oats and candi sugar, hopped like an American IPA with Simcoe and Amarillo hops, then fermented with the Wyeast French Saison yeast strain. Aging this beer in bourbon barrels was a calculated risk. We know that the flavors from wine barrel aging consistently pair nicely with Belgian-style beers, but a Belgian-style beer aged in bourbon barrels sometimes provide mixed and unfavorable results. In addition, the intense hop presence could have clashed with the oak and bourbon characters. But the result is an incredibly pleasing melange of banana, honey, floral, American tropical fruit hops, with hints of oak and vanilla with a slight peppery finish. The bourbon character is subdued, perceivable, but in the mix and asserts itself along with the oak in the retronasal sensory analysis. The midpalate is creamy, and the finish is substantially bitter.