Zelda Zonk
Zelda Zonk is our latest barrel-aged blend, combining casks from three different beer streams, each with a different age statement, and three spirit streams. As we prepared to blend this beer, we realized we had depleted much of our older barrel stock. The casks most prime for use were younger than what we had selected in the last year or two. Rather than view this as a handicap, we took it as an opportunity to create a new beer that expresses a fresher, brighter, and younger barrel character. Instead of oxidation, char, umami, and rickhouse, we could pursue lighter spirit notes and high-tone alcohol zippiness.
The risk, of course, was ending up with a beer that was too hot, green, and disjointed. Fortunately, we found a lovely set of Imperial Stout casks aged in Bourbon barrels that balanced notes of chocolate chips, licorice, slight vanilla, and a floral, almost perfume-like, whiskey expression. To complement these, we thought some fruit-forward brandy casks might do the trick, so we pulled in some double chocolate stout aged in Clear Creek casks. This brought in notes of wood spice, white chocolate, and poached pear. The impact was subtle but noticeable, leaving an elegant throughline of orchard fruit flavor in this bombastic, dark beer.
Sted Sarandos
Who is Sted Sarandos?
The namesake for our first blend of 2026 is a real under-the-radar rapscallion. Swift on his feet, running one direction then another, he is full of surprises, and so is the beer we blended in his honor...
This blend combines beer from 4 different beer streams and 5 different batches of stout. The primary component was a cohort of our 'cereal killer' double stout aged in Westward Whiskey casks. These contributed classic choco-vanilla overtones, lots of caramel in the Rolo/Caramello vein, and some unique birthday cake frosting attributes. We used single-cask additions of aged triple stout and young chocolate stout to bring body, cocoa powder notes, and a touch of roast and structure.
As a 'cherry on top,' we included a single highly-prized cask of 'cereal killer' stout that aged in a Stonebarn Brandyworks nocino barrel. We actually tasted several nocino casks from our cellar, and we thought that this one was the most reminiscent of amburana, the unusual, aromatic Brazilian wood known for its heady scent of cinnamon roll and ginger snap. The walnut artifacts from this cask are subtle, making it a unique expression of 'nocino barrel-aged stout' within our portfolio. We hope you enjoy this first release in our 2026 series of stouts, all named after some of the most creative celebrity aliases and pseudonyms we could find.
