Detroit’s Atwater Brewery Has A New Oak Barrel-Aged Black Imperial Stout

If you’re a fan of Atwater Brewery and dark beer, this one might be for you. Atwater Brewery’s new VJ Black Imperial Stout has, quoting their press release, “complex flavors of vanilla and coffee with more prominent bourbon and oak edges.”

Only 40 barrels of the new limited-run brew will be available. The beer was aged in oak barrels for a year.

It’ll be at some retails and sold at their three bars that, if you didn’t know, are located near the Detroit east riverfront on Jos Campau, Grosse Pointe Park, and out in Grand Rapids. They’ll sell them “over the counter” in four packs starting at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 15.

“We put a lot of effort and a lot of pride in this new stout. We gave our brewers license to experiment. We  acquired just emptied Four Roses bourbon barrels and aged our stout in them for a full year to achieve the desired blend. The resulting liquid is absolutely amazing,” says Atwater owner Mark Rieth.

The brewery says the new VJ Black Imperial Stout is a derivative of Atwater’s Vanilla Java Porter and is one of the only barrel aged beers produced entirely in Detroit.

Additionally, a new barrel aged Imperial Voodoovator in February.