You’ll probably see a line outside the taproom at Reuben’s Brews in Ballard this Saturday at 11:00 A.M. That’s when the doors open and the brewery releases this year’s version of Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout (BBIS). If you’re the type of beer connoisseur that values and hunts down such treasures, you know what to do. They’ll pour the draft version for you immediate gratification and also offer wax-dipped 22-ounce bottles, while supplies last. On Saturday they’ll also tap vintage versions of BBIS along with a pre-blend version of this year’s beer that came from “barrel 7,” dubbed this year’s most outstanding barrel.
Here is the release announcement from the brewery with more info:
2018 Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout or BBIS (pronounced BEE-biss) is back this Saturday, November 10th at 11am. This crowd favorite has been years in the making. BBIS will be available on tap and in 22oz wax-dipped bottles, while supplies last.
The majority of the batches in this year’s blend are around a year old. Using the same oat-forward recipe that hails back from the original version brewed in 2013, using some new techniques we’ve made the beer bigger, richer and silkier. For the first time this year we also added an element of a two year old batch into the blend, which adds layers of complexity. We believe both of these elements help make this batch the best yet – which is high praise for a beer that has been Grand National Champion at the USBTC, Gold at the World Beer Championships, and Gold at the Best of Craft Beer Awards. We barrel aged this stout in 7 to 12 year Heaven Hills bourbon barrels, and the final blend comes from almost a dozen of these barrels.
Also, when we were working on the blend, one barrel stood out above all others. That barrel will be available as an unblended “Barrel 7” version.
Join us in the taproom for a draft lineup of past BBIS releases and pours of the 2018 BBIS and Barrel 7. There is an extremely limited amount of Barrel 7 bottles, so be here early!