It was only a matter of time, with Rivertown moving into their big new production facility in Monroe almost a year ago, we’re finally starting to see the fruits of their labor in a big way. I told you about the debut of their beloved Roebling Nitro in cans, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg for their upcoming releases that you need to know about!
Uncle Andy’s Imperial Stout
I’ve been watching for any news of this one since the label was first approved back in the early summer months. Sure enough, the happy word came out of Monroe that the big imperial stout would be making it’s debut in bottles and on draft starting next Friday, January 26th at 6pm. The bottle’s label (which has artwork done by Matt Sharp) tells a lot about the story of ‘Uncle Andy’ and how this beer came to be:
Rivertown Brewing would not exist without Andy Grigg (a.k.a. Uncle Andy). Rivertown Founder and Brewmaster, Jason Roeper, was first introduced to homebrewing through his Uncle in the 1990s, as Andy would share his fresh brewed libations with friends and family at all the gatherings, and the rest is history. Andy has won multiple awards for his brews at local, state and regional competitions, none more than his multi-award-winning Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout. Brewed in Monroe by Uncle Andy himself, this beer is a malty, layered imperial stout with a rich, dark opaqueness, round body, and floral hop aromatics from the copious amounts of cascade hops that meet up with a wonderfully balanced charred-oak whisky flavor. From the garage to his first regional release, cheers to “Uncle” Andy Grigg!
The beer is a big one, it’s 9.8% ABV and has been tucked away in Stillwrights, Makers Mark and Jim Beam barrels for around 2 months building flavor and character. I’m excited to give this one a try, needless to say.
The Haze Train Rolls Into Rivertown
We’re seeing more and more of these ‘NE Style’ Hazy IPAs and it’s getting really fun and interesting to see everyone’s take on the style. Rivertown is jumping into the game with their “Due & Proper” which is set to release starting in mid February in both draft and 12oz cans (more on that in a minute…). While I haven’t had a chance to try the beer yet, or get some tasting notes on it, I’m fairly certain you can expect a nice fruity hop character coupled up with a less than bitter bite and soft mouthfeel that you guys have come to expect from the style.
One thing that’s interesting to note from the label that we’ve been talking about recently is the instructions to swirl during the pour. In Rivertown’s words they instruct you to:
- Pour 1/2 of the beer into the glass
- Gently swirl the beer in the can
- Pour the remaining 1/2 into the glass & enjoy!
I’ll be sure to get some tasting notes in front of your face as soon as I get this beer in front of mine!
More Cans? More Cans!
In a move that I love for a lot of different reasons, we got a sneak peek at a new move for Rivertown, which is their new lager, called 3984 in 12oz cans. If you couple this up with the fact that most of the releases that we’ve seen from them in the last 6 months have been cans I think it might be safe to assume that they’re pushing harder in that direction than ever before.
I have been waiting to see Soulless and Divergent in cans for summertime drinking ease for a very long time – let’s hops that his is a sign of that happening in the near future!