To add even more heft to Friday’s Third Weekend lineup at Gravity Head 2013, we sent Josh Hill into the cellar to locate kegs we’ve been keeping for a while. He did good. First, a familiar furry face.
Jaxon (2010) ... The one you know.
American Barley Wine
ABV: 11%
IBU: 100
OG: 28 degrees Plato
Drop the leash, already. Jaxon’s been resting since midway through Barack Obama’s first term. Jaxon teasingly asks the question, “With a bark like that, who needs Pat?,” because NABC’s properly pedigreed Barleywine was brewed at Bank Street Brewhouse and aged by David Pierce (creator of the legendary Bearded Pat’s Barley Wine). Only the first runnings were collected from the mash tun, with no sparge, meaning three separate mashes made up this batch.
Malts: Special Pale, Dingeman's Biscuit, Cara 45, Special B
Hops: Centennial, Simcoe, Chinook in two additions;
Cascade in the whirlpool; dry hopped twice with whole cone Cascade
Yeast: House Ale
Josh didn't stop there.
Quadrageddon (2011) ... The one you’ve never seen.
Former NABC brewer Jared Williamson created Quadrageddon in early 2011 with the express purpose of setting the beer aside. Early tastings in 2011 were malty and hot, but after two years of cellaring, it’s winey, tannic and dry with a touch of tartness. In other words, it’s time to see what the world thinks. Jared was kind enough to e-mail an overview.
Malt: 2 row, Castle Biscuit and Special B; perhaps some Castle Aromatic, too.
Hops: A variety; probably around 30 IBU
Yeast: Chouffe
Aged in Cabernet barrels (previously used for the C2 collaboration batch aging) for +/- 10 months.
Finished around 9.2%ABV
