Beer Spotlight!

Spotlight on the Vanish River Run Whiskey Barrel- Aged Imperial Stout

$18.99 for the 750ml bottle
Whiskey Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout

You’d think more breweries would start the way Vanish Farmwoods Brewery in Lucketts, VA started. Back in 2014, Jonathan Staples started Black Hops Farm — a hop farm for Virginia’s growing beer scene. Soon, Staples thought, “Well, we’re growing all these hops, why not make beer with them?” Seriously, how do more hop farmers not think that? (We know. Not all wheat farmers become bakers but … you know … hops!)

Using ingredients from both their farm and from other local farms, Vanish Farmwoods Brewery focuses on “plant-to-pint” or “seed-to-sip” brewing. Along with a talent for turning a phrase, they also, apparently, have a talent for barrel-aging a stout.

The River Run Whiskey Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout is an annual winter offering for Vanish, and it’s almost good enough to make us wish for more snow (and we really, really don’t like the snow)! It’s also a bit of a mystery. We’ve had whiskey barrel-aged stouts before and have always felt the stout part overpowered the whiskey notes. Finally, we concluded that where bourbon was clearly strong enough in flavor to work with barrel-aged stouts, whiskey must not be … and then in comes the River Run.

Vanish’s River Run is one of the richest stouts that you’re likely to run into. Pours like motor oil, drinks like syrup, and tastes like a typhoon of malt and barrel-aging. Using rye whiskey barrels from Sagamore Spirits in Baltimore, MD, the River Run has deep, chocolate flavors, and yet they march hand in hand with whiskey notes like they’re doing a two-step! And just for fun, they do a twirl at the end and tell bourbon barrels to go jump!

(It’s okay, bourbon barrels. We’ll always love you … after we’ve finished drinking the River Run!)