Stubborn Imperial Stout

Celebrating the Dark Arts of Barrel Aging: Introducing INFINITE Barrel Works By Bright Brewery

Emerging from deep in the heart of the High Country comes an exciting new range of beers from one of the country’s pioneering craft breweries.

Infinite Barrel Works by Bright Brewery will celebrate the dark art of barrel aging, with only the most exclusive beers seeing the light of day.

Whilst Bright has released highly-acclaimed barrel-aged beers before, like it’s 16th anniversary Pioneer Rum Barrel Aged Imperial Stout, a formal barrel-aging program has long been on founder Scott Brandon’s wishlist.

And now, under the watchful eye of Head Brewer Lewis Kerr, Infinite Barrel Works sees a curated selection of hand-picked barrels reserved only for Bright’s most premium beers.

“Barrel aging is something quite special that all brewers love to work with,” Kerr said. “There’s a bit of black magic to it, and you have to give up a bit of control of the beer that you’re working with to the elements and to nature and to the barrel.”

THE STORY
The first Infinite Barrel Works release will be a Whisky Barrel Aged Imperial Stout – but it wouldn’t do the beer, or the barrels, justice, to just stop the explanation there…

In fact, we have to go way back in time to that peaceful pre-COVID and pre-Russian War on Ukraine period of 2019 when we were blissfully unaware of how the world was about to change.

“This beer was derived in the depths of the High Country with our good friends at Backwoods Distilling,” Kerr said.
“In 2019, we sent off a batch of our Stubborn Imperial Stout (then called Stubborn Russian) to Backwoods for distillation into a whisky. That whisky was then aged in these barrels, and both the whisky and the barrels were given to us when the whisky had matured.

“We then aged another round of imperial stout and whisky in those barrels, and the cycle continued, creating a closed loop of barrels that are infinitely used.”

To be more specific, the beer in barrel is Bright’s 2023 Stubborn Imperial Stout – the notorious 16-percenter brewed by Kerr and his team in the Autumn of 2023. So what has a year in a whisky barrel done for it?

THE BEER
“It’s definitely still boozy, as you’d expect from a 16-percenter, and it’s picked up a lot of the whisky characteristics – a lot of deep plum, raisin and prune characteristics, and the heat has mellowed out,” Kerr said.

Due to its high ABV (16% and 5.6 std drinks per can), this beer is definitely designed to share with other beer lovers, not to consume solo.

“Practice responsible drinking and share it with some mates. Take it to can-share night, take it as a gift, open it with a couple of friends, sit down and take your time,” Kerr advises. “When you finish the beer, you will see it evolve and become a new beer when it’s warmed up to room temperature.”

THE BARRELS
So what can beer lovers expect from future Infinite releases? Kerr is excited but he isn’t giving away all his secrets. “We’ve got an incredible array of barrels, like Madeira, coconut rum, cognac, mead, banana brandy so there’s some exciting things on the cards,” he said. Infinite Barrel Works beers are expected to be scarce and extremely limited in quantity, due to the small-batch nature of the style.

They will be available exclusively online from Bright Brewery.

THE ART
Bright fans will notice that Infinite beers look remarkably different to the rest of its very distinctive, colourful cans. “This beer is so special to us and so unique to Bright that we wanted the can art to reflect that,” Kerr said. The can artwork for Infinite Whisky Barrel Aged Imperial Stout features a beautiful photo of Mount Buffalo, Vic, captured by local photographer Sam Walklate.

“I’m pretty lucky as I live just down the road from Mount Buffalo,” Walklate said. “And from where I live, I can see the conditions up on the mountain. On this day, I saw the cloud sort of dancing around the mountain and I decided to just drive up the road and grab a shot. I just stayed there for about 20 minutes while the clouds danced around the mountain and I came out with this image.”

Subsequent Infinite releases will feature equally beautiful High Country landscapes and photographers keen to see their work on an Infinite can are invited to lodge an Expression of Interest to have their art featured on future beers. There is more information on that process here.

THE DETAILS
Infinite Barrel Works Whisky Barrel Aged Imperial Stout will be available by pre-sale to Bright Mash Club members from Wednesday May 1 and will go on sale to the general public on Friday May 3.

To join the Mash Club and get early access to the beer, head here. Or join Bright’s Brew Crew mailing list to be the first to know when Friday’s release goes live.

Stubborn imperial stout 2023 lands at a mighty 16%

Bright Brewery is proud to announce the release of its most highly sought-after annual release – Stubborn Imperial Stout 2023.

Stubborn Imperial Stout, which has been brewed continuously for the past 13 years, is one of Bright’s most iconic and beloved beers. It has become a firm favourite amongst dark beer lovers around Australia and, with a hefty 16% ABV, this year’s vintage is guaranteed to make its mark.

Named for its stubbornness during fermentation, Stubborn is, historically, a challenge for Bright’s brewers – a situation that has become known as the ‘Stubborn Curse’.

“Whenever we brew this beer, something unusual, unexpected and unpredictable happens,” Bright Brewery’s marketing manager, Laura Gray, said. “Over the years, our brewers have learnt to expect the unexpected with this brew.”

But this unpredictable set of circumstances is what sets every vintage of Stubborn Imperial Stout apart from the rest, and imparts its own distinct flavour and character.

“No two years are the same. Each year, we hold our breath, wondering what the brew will bring,” Gray said.

The 2023 vintage of Stubborn Imperial Stout is the first for Bright’s Head Brewer, Lewis Kerr, who joined the team in late 2022. And while his first Stubborn was not without its challenges, Kerr is proud to continue the Stubborn legacy, which started with Jon Seltin back in around 2010.

“This year, we used a yeast we had never worked with before, and the beer fermented at a higher temperature than usual,” Kerr said. “In previous years, there has been equipment failures, illness, brewing failures, Russian war, and missing ingredients – but every year, the beer turns out amazing, albeit different, from all the others.

“The ABV of this year’s Stubborn is well hidden for something that sits at 16. It is more reminiscent of something around the 12% range. It has a silky mouthfeel with moderate carbonation, strong hints of banana and fruit bowl that open up into cherry and caramel, and heavy notes of molasses.”

With a nose that is a combination of vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon, with deep, rich port-wine notes, Stubborn 2023 will pair well with hearty comfort foods like succulent slow-cooked meats or can be enjoyed as a dessert beer alongside a rich, decadent dessert.

“We are thrilled to be able to share this unique and exciting beer with beer lovers,” said Gray. “We know that the Stubborn Curse only adds to the allure of this beer, and we can’t wait for beer enthusiasts to experience it for themselves.”

Stubborn Imperial Stout 2023 will be launched at a special Vertical Tasting in Bright on May 15. It will be available for purchase from May 15 at Bright Brewery’s online shop, direct from the Brewery, and from selected retail outlets across Australia.

Dark beer lovers attending Bright’s Darker Days midwinter festival will also be able to enjoy a vertical tasting of three past vintages of this infamous brew.

So, get ready to embrace the darkness of winter with a glass of Stubborn Imperial Stout in your hand!

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