2024 Vintage Stout - Pōkeno Whisky Barrel Aged 500ml

The 2024 Vintage Stout is the sixth release of our ‘Vintage’ range of yearly Barrel Aged releases. This version has sat gracefully in ex-Pōkeno Distillery Whisky Barrels in the temperature controlled environment of our Barrel Bunker.

This Imperial Stout was brewed with a ‘Reiterated’ Double Mashing schedule, in which the second mash is mixed in with high gravity Wort from the first mash. This process allows us to extract a more concentrated sweet Wort, which feeds the yeast to create a higher alcohol brew.

A small addition of dextrose sugar in the fermenter added an extra hit of alcohol which gives this beer a warming balance to the oak tannins. We then decanted the beer into New Zealand Whisky Barrels from Pōkeno Distillery, and left the beer to rest for nine months.

The process of Oak ageing creates a chemical reaction between the wood and the beer, in which flavour compounds such as tannins and vanillins leach into the beer, creating a rounded and complex flavour. By treating the oak barrel as an additional ‘ingredient’ we’ve been able to create this complex and rich brew that is perfect for winter nights, and will also cellar extremely well as it gains complexity with ageing.