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City Star Brewing Releases Biggest Beer of the Year

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City Star Brewing Releases Biggest Beer of the Year
Outlaw Whiskey Barrel Aged Imperial Stout

The Berthoud, Colorado brewery’s biggest annual beer release of the year, Outlaw, will be unleashed this weekend.  The 2022 vintage of this imperial stout was aged 1 year in Deerhammer Whiskey oak barrels and weighs in at a whopping 12.7% ABV. Flavors of rich chocolate, dark dried fruit, oak, vanilla and of course American whiskey. A rich and creamy mouthfeel leaves you lingering for another pour.

Outlaw will be available on tap for sampling starting at noon on Saturday, February 5th. 400 wax dipped 22oz bottles will be for sale in the taproom ($20/each with a 12 bottle limit per person).

City Star’s Barrel Aging Program
City Star’s Zoller Barrel House is home to 48 oak barrels from wineries and distilleries near and fear. Each barrel is branded with a number for tracking barrel and beer history along with tasting notes. Stainless nails are pulled every 3-6 months to sample the barrel’s contents. The room separates clean and sour barrels. Most barrels age one or two clean beers and then are re-purposed as sour barrels.  Occasionally barrels are retired from City Star, but the original barrels #1 and #2, first filled in 2014, are still in-use as some of the preferred City Star sour barrels.

The Zoller Barrel House building was constructed in the early 1900’s. Its current name pays homage to a piece of its history: immigrant Jake Zoller operated the Zoller Shoe Shop in the space from the 1930’s to 1980’s. In 2014 John and Whitney Way purchased the property and remodeled the building to accommodate stacked barrels along each of the long walls. Radiant floor heat was installed to facilitate beer aging and complex sour development year round.

City Star Releases Biggest Beer Yet

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For Immediate Release:
City Star Brewing Releases Biggest Beer yet: Outlaw Whisky Barrel Aged Imperial Stout, weighing in at 14% abv.

The latest in the City Star Zoller Barrel Aged Series will be released in the City Star taproom Saturday, February 2nd, Outlaw. The 2019 vintage of this imperial stout was aged 1 year in Spirit Hound Distillers whisky oak barrels and weighs in at a whopping 14% abv. Flavors of rich chocolate, toffee, dark dried fruit, oak, vanilla and of course American whiskey. A rich and creamy mouthfeel leaves you lingering for another pour.

A limited supply of orange and vanilla Outlaw variants will be available in bottles for purchase and sampling on Saturday only. Heirloom navel oranges were zested and soaked in Gran Marnier to infuse Outlaw for about 100 bottles. The vanilla variant features a brewhouse made tincture of Madagascar vanilla beans to feature in about 100 bottles.

Outlaw: $18/22oz bottle, $9/10oz on draft, $3.50/4oz tasters (tax included in prices)
Outlaw + Orange: $20/22oz bottle (6 bottle limit), Saturday only: $10/10oz and $4/4oz
Outlaw + Vanilla: $20/22oz bottle (6 bottle limit), Saturday only: $10/10oz and $4/4oz

Catch a glimpse of City Star’s labor intensive bottling process in action early in the day during the release. Interested in 2017 Outlaw? There will be a few bottles in the taproom for some vertical tasting fun!

Beer Release: Outlaw

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The 2024 vintage of City Star’s Outlaw Imperial Stout spent one year doing time in Leopold Bros bourbon whiskey oak barrels. This big beer features flavors of dark chocolate, toffee, dark fruit, oak, vanilla and of course American whiskey. Each bottle is dipped in wax and hand stamped with the City Star Brewing seal.

1 case limit per person, online ordering opens Friday morning, February 2nd at citystarpickup.com.

New in brew: A stout worth saving article in Boulder Weekly

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City Star releases the 2017 Outlaw Imperial Stout in bottles

By Michael J. Casey – November 2, 2017
Most savvy beer drinkers will tell you the same thing: The fresher the better. While true for the vast majority of American lagers and ales, some beers do benefit from a pit stop in a barrel and a little lag time in the bottle. It takes a little patience and some experimentation, but Whitney Way, co-owner of City Star Brewery, says she is enjoying “digging into the barrel-aged side of craft beer.”

Located in Berthoud and operating with a 3.5-barrel brewing system, City Star began playing around with barrel-aged beers in 2012 — it was a raspberry brown ale aged in a cabernet sauvignon barrel. It soon started bottling barrel-aged concoctions, starting with Outlaw, an imperial stout aged in whiskey barrels from Breckenridge Distillery.

“The response was overwhelming,” Way says. “Since then, we’ve been releasing a barrel-aged beer in bottles ever two to three months.”

If the response was overwhelming for the 2015 Outlaw, then City Star’s latest bottling, the 2017 Outlaw Imperial Stout, ought to garner even more enthusiastic acclaim. Aged in Heaven Hill Kentucky Bourbon barrels for 14–18 months, the Outlaw is loaded with dark chocolate, dried red fruit, black strap molasses, vanilla and plenty of boozy bourbon. It’s thick and rich, but drink it slow; at 12.75 percent alcohol by volume (ABV), the Outlaw packs one hell of a wallop.

“It was brewed to be a high-ABV imperial stout, brewed for those barrels,” Way explains. “In barrels, there is a little bit of evaporation that occurs, especially when you’re keeping beer in there for over a year.”

Not too mention the residual liquor absorbed by the barrels.

“We like to use barrels that are still pretty wet,” Way continues. “We really like the flavor [it] provides.”

The aroma of bourbon whiskey greets you once you chip through the black wax sealing Outlaw’s bottle cap and pry the beast open. It’ll come out swinging, but give it a minute or five to open up in the glass and let the air smooth out those edges — a solid indication the brew will only improve over time.

“This particular beer will definitely age well,” Way says. “We’ve had several different people who had a 2015 [Outlaw] and are drinking them side-by-side with the 2017 now. [They say] right now is the sweet spot for 2015.”

Do an Outlaw side-by-side comparison and you’ll taste what can be achieved by cellaring: the aggressiveness and heat diminish while the flavors deepen into a mellow, nuanced taste.

“That’s kind of the beauty of aging those big imperial stouts,” Way says. “A lot of those key flavors hang out and the beers just improve over time.”

Twenty-two-ounce bottles of 2017 Outlaw Imperial Stout can be acquired at City Star for $18. Grab one for the holidays and one for the cellar; 2019 will be here before you know it.

Original article source: http://www.boulderweekly.com/cuisine/new-brew-stout-worth-saving/

City Star Brewing Releases Outlaw in Bottles: Imperial Stout Aged in Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey Barrels

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For Immediate Release:
City Star Brewing Releases Outlaw in Bottles: Imperial Stout Aged in Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey Barrels

The latest in the City Star Zoller Barrel Aged Series will be released in the City Star taproom on Saturday, October 21st, Outlaw. The 2017 vintage of this imperial stout was aged 14-18 months in Kentucky bourbon whiskey oak barrels and weighs in at 12.75% abv. Flavors of rich chocolate, toffee, dark dried fruit, oak, vanilla and of course American whiskey. A rich and creamy mouthfeel leaves you lingering for another pour.

“This is a very special release for us. Though we began barrel aging beer in 2012, our 2015 vintage of Outlaw was our first bottling of any kind at City Star. It is exciting to see where City Star was at the time of our 2015 release in comparison to this release, as it coincides with the opening of our long awaited beer garden and Zoller Barrel House.” – co-owner Whitney Way.

Bottles will be available for sale at $18/22oz bottle, AND Outlaw will be on draft for sampling. Each bottle is dipped in wax and hand stamped with the City Star Brewing seal.

Outlaw 2017

City Star will be hosting an Outlaw Preview in the taproom on Monday, October 2nd to kick off GABF festivities! More details about this event can be found at: citystarbrewing.com/outlaw-preview. For those attending GABF swing by our booth R7 for a limited release of Outlaw during each session. 

 

 

The Hop Head’s Guide to the Galaxy: Outlaw 2017

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OutlawBlake “The Pebble” Johnson joins The Hop Heads in studio for a very special preview of City Star Brewing’s Outlaw 2017 (Releasing October 21st).

Imperial Stout

ABV: 12.75%

2017 vintage of this imperial stout was aged 14-18 months in Kentucky bourbon whiskey oak barrels. Flavors of rich chocolate, toffee, dark dried fruit, oak, vanilla and of course American whiskey. A rich and creamy mouthfeel leaves you lingering for another pour.

Listen to the complete podcast here: Beer Shorts: City Star Brewing – Outlaw 2017

Podcast Release date: September 28, 2017 via The Hop Head’s Guide to the Galaxy

Photo courtesy of The Hop Head’s Guide to the Galaxy

City Star Brewing Plans First Bottle Release with Whiskey Barrel Aged Imperial Stout

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outlawFebruary 24th, 2015

Berthoud, CO

Warning: Outlaw on the Loose! Keep a look out for Outlaw, the first in City Star Brewing’s barrel aged series and the first City Star brew available in bottles. Outlaw will be released at the City Star taproom in Berthoud, Colorado on Saturday, March 7th.

Outlaw weighs in at 13.25% alcohol by volume and has spent 1 year “doing time” in Breckenridge Whiskey barrels waiting for the chance to bust out. While incarcerated Outlaw mellowed nicely and includes flavors of dark chocolate, toffee, dark fruit, oak, vanilla, and of course American whiskey.

Outlaw is a rare limited release (only 970 bottles) specialty beer and the first City Star brew available in bottles.   Each 22oz bottle has been sealed in red wax and individually numbered.  Outlaw will be available for purchase exclusively in City Star Brewing’s taproom starting Saturday, March 7th at 12pm. Bottles will be sold for $18 each (plus tax) with a one case (12 bottles) limit per person.

Catch this Outlaw before it escapes again and put it where it belongs… in your belly.

City Star Brewing co-owner and head brewer John Way says, “We’ve been barrel aging beers since year one and we are excited to have Outlaw be our first bottled beer. The imperial stout base beer used for Outlaw is amazing on its own, and then we introduced this big, delicious brew to age in whiskey oak barrels for one year. The barrels impart a very complex dark chocolate and charred oak body with a very bold whiskey aroma that turned this phenomenal beer into something very special that can be aged for years to come.”