Brandy Barrel Aged Bois -- Part 3 of 5 of Our Anniversary Beers

By now you may have read about (and tasted?) our 2013 anniversary beer, Bois (pronounced "bwah"). This ale was brewed in the English-style Old Ale tradition using our house Belgian yeast strain and to celebrate our fifth year of creating exciting craft beers, we're aging Bois in five different kinds of barrels: bourbon, rye, brandy, new American oak, and French oak barrels. 100% bourbon barrel aged Bois is available nationwide, while rye, brandy, and new American oak are for Reserve Society members only. French oak barrel aged Bois is a Hoarders Society exclusive only which will be available later in the year.

Last week we discussed rye barrels, and before that, bourbon barrels. Today we look into the world of brandy and brandy barrels. And no, not that kind.

Rye Barrel Aged Bois -- Part 2 of 5 of Our Anniversary Beers

Rye has the sometimes unfortunate reputation of being a kind of whiskey equivalent of Old Spice or Stetson Cologne; something cheap and rough around the edges that is best left to your grandfather - but that comparison has some value: rye is an American classic and like the aforementioned colognes it's simultaneously comforting and difficult to ignore when you're experiencing it. -- Rory Snipes

As you have seen on our Bruery Facebook page and Tasting Room Facebook page, May is our anniversary month and we are celebrating turning five years old with tons of fun stuff. We've been selling one archived beer everyday, offering up specialty flights, putting some rare kegs on draft, getting some one-time-only deliveries out into the market, and if that wasn't enough, we're releasing five variations of our anniversary ale, Bois.

Our variations of Bois that are available only to our Reserve Society members include Bois aged in rye, brandy and new American oak barrels. A special Hoarders-only variation aged in French oak barrels will be released later this year. Last week we profiled the beauty of bourbon, since our nationally distributed edition of Bois is 100% bourbon barrel aged and out in the market now. This week, we're looking at bourbon's relative, RYE!