The most fun thing about being even the most casual of craft beer fans is trying a new brew.
An opportunity to try more than one special beer you haven't had before is tempting indeed.
Iron Hill Brewery in Maple Shade offers craft beerheads such an opportunity from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, when the brewpub and brewer Chris LaPierre hosts their fourth annual "Barrels, Bourbon and Bugs'' event. This is a chance to sample some of the special - and even wilder - offerings from Iron Hill's bourbon barrel-aged barrels. Guests will get to try both samplers and full-sized beers.
“Creating interesting and full-flavored beers is one of my favorite parts of being a brewer, and this event is a showcase for some of the best and most uncommon offerings we’ve made at Iron Hill,” says LaPierre. “The name of our event refers to Barrel aging, using Bourbon barrels, or a beer-lovers’ favorite Bug, brettanomyces, a strain of yeast known colloquially as Brett that is often used in aged beers such as Belgian lambics.”
Among the offerings: The Grand Inquisitor, a Russian Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels; Bourbon 2 Logan TJ, a rich Colonial-style ale aged in bourbon barrels with whole vanilla beans; Bourbon Cherry Iron Fish, brewed in collaboration with Flying Fish’s Casey Hughes, an imperial black Belgian-style IPA aged in a bourbon barrel with 40 pounds of wild cherries; Wild Quadfather, a Belgian-style ale with hints of dark, dried fruit aged in a Cabernet barrel for nine months with wild yeasts, and Wine Barrel Wee Heavy, a Scotch-style ale fermented in stainless and aged in a pinot noir barrel, spiked with Brett L.
Iron Hill's Maple Shade location is at 124 East Kings Highway. For reservations, call (856) 273-0300. For details, check out ironhillbrewery.com.
