This Friday October the 3rd is First Friday. Yeah, I know that is obvious but it means that we will be tapping something from the SUPER SECRET STASH.  Yes, there really is a super secret stash. At 5:00pm we will be serving five gallons of Cherry Dubbel. We have a pinot noir barrel from a winery in New Jersey. Yes there are wineries in New Jersey. We’ve mostly been using the barrel as a home for the special strains of bacteria that make sour beers like Lambic so special. These bugs love to live in wood and our barrel is home to some great tasting stuff. We’ve rotated lots of great beer through it including tripel, quad, and a blend of Braggott and fruit. Anyway, about three months ago Doug spiked the barrel with fast fermenting Dubbel wort and FORTY POUNDS of dark sweet cherries. The beer fermented out nicely and has tons of wine like character including oak, esters, sweet fruity notes. Oh, and it’s very, very strong. Needless to say we have a super limited supply of the stuff but we are parting with five gallons this Friday. It’ll go fast so don’t be late.

In a related bit of news we were recently featured in the New Brewer magazine for this very barrel! My boss, Mark Edelson, called me a couple of months ago gathering info about how we were using the barrel and he also asked for a photo if it. Now, being the shameless self promoter that I am I put myself in the picture! Doug took the picture and it is on proud display in the current issue deep in a story about barrel aging. Hte mag is for Super Beer Nerds who make beer for a living. Like us…anyway I included the pic here on the blog just in case your subscription ran out! No photo credit for Doug, but I told him to put it on his resume anyway! (This guy can do just about anything FYI).

I’m on the road to Michigan this week to do some work, but Super Doug will be here to shake hands and kiss babies. Stop by for a glass and give him a pat on the back…the beer was his idea and it is KILLER.