Emerging from deep in the heart of the High Country, Bright Brewery proudly announces the second release of its Infinite Barrel Works project. This highly anticipated series celebrates the dark art of barrel aging, with each release showcasing the unique flavours imparted by various barrels.

THE MEAD BARREL AGED IMPERIAL MILK STOUT (10.2%)

The latest addition to the Infinite Barrel Works lineup is a Mead Barrel Aged Imperial Milk Stout. This exceptional beer is the result of a meticulous aging process in ex-Mead casks, a traditional fermented beverage made from honey. The mead’s sweetness and complexity have resulted in a full bodied, sweet Imperial Milk Stout.

A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME

This beer’s story begins in 2019, a time before the world was dramatically altered by global events. A collaboration with Backwoods Distilling resulted in the creation of a whisky from Bright’s Stubborn Imperial Stout. The whisky was aged in barrels, which were then repurposed for the Infinite Barrel Works project.

By cycling the imperial stout and whisky through these barrels, Bright Brewery has created a closed loop of aging, ensuring that the barrels are used infinitely.

A TASTE OF THE INFINITE

The Mead Barrel Aged Imperial Milk Stout offers a complex and satisfying flavour profile. The sweetness of the mead complements the smooth chocolate notes of the imperial stout, creating a harmonious blend. Expect subtle notes honey and eucalyptus which round out with a lovely mouthfeel.

LIMITED AVAILABIILTY 

Infinite Barrel Works By Bright Brewery beers are renowned for their scarcity and exceptional quality. Due to the small-batch nature of barrel aging, quantities are extremely limited. This release will be available exclusively online from Bright Brewery.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRENDAND HOLLAND

The can art for the Mead Barrel Aged Imperial Milk Stout features stunning photography by Bright local and avid skier, Brendan Holland. His images capture the beauty and serenity of Mount Feathertop, Victoria’s second highest mountain peak.

“This particular photo was a result after a day’s skiing with friends.  My friends had gone back to their unit, but I decided to stick around as it was looking like it was going to be a promising sunset,” he said.

“I headed out to the Mt Loch carpark where there are great views of Mt Feathertop from there. So I went out in the ‘blue hour’ and I got this shot. There were a few really nice clouds around that really picked up the colours of the sunset and the blues in the sky.”

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.

PRESALE PERIOD

A two-week pre-sale for the Infinite Barrel Works Mead Barrel Aged Imperial Stout will begin on Thursday, September 26th at 10 AM AEST.

Bright Mash Club members will have early access to the pre-sale starting on Tuesday, September 24th at 10am AEST.

The pre-sale will open to the general public on Thursday, September 26th at 10 AM AEST.

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 the presale goes live.

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.