A Deeper, Darker Wood

A walk into the wood is the slow unfolding of an ecosystem. It's true for an adventure into nature, and it's true for the metaphorical grove we've created over the years with stacks of barrels, acres of malt, and more patience than we knew we had. And what we learn time and again, during a journey into either, is that there's no one thing that can dictate the rest.

Everything is in balance, or nothing is. Complexity needs time and blending to develop. Time needs planning and the right resources, or it's just a long wait to be disappointed. Blending is where we've achieved some amazing harmonies, but would be useless without knowing what standards we have to refuse to compromise on. You don't solve a technique once and for all as much as you start getting better at asking "what don't we know, and how can we figure out a little more?"

So you work on everything. All the time. You continually pin and re-pin your focus another year, or two, or three, down the road. And eventually, you feel a chill, look up, and see that a dark and beautiful Deep Wood has grown up to envelop you. And that's not the endpoint. Nothing is. When you start to comprehend the size of the landscape, you feel joy at learning how much further in you can go.

While other barrel programs slumber in the height of summer, we're kicking off the 2022-23 slate.

Thundertaker returns, brought to life with hand-selected premium barrels from the bourbon experts at Binny's.

Coconut Deth finally sees the light of day after a long stay as one of our most-requested Deth's Tar Variants. We've taken a long look at different coconut products and techniques (and produced one excellent draft variant) and we're finally ready to let loose upon the world.

Lumberstruck is a new concept, marrying unique beers to absolutely breathtaking barrels outside of our usual inventory. The inaugural edition features a Black Barleywine (sweet like a Barleywine, inky black like a Stout) sent to age in Saxum Vineyards red wine casks.

Fall kicks off with three versions of our Imperial Oatmeal Stout.

Deth's Tar returns with another year of barrel and blending knowledge under its belt.

Café Deth will feature a new blend of carefully-selected coffee beans from our friends at Dark Matter Coffee.

Deth by Currants, the beguiling fruited variant and surprise fan favorite, comes back to cans after a three-year respite with a new approach to fruit addition that surpasses anything we've managed yet.

The final release of 2022 brings an embarrassment of riches. Two of our most beloved Deep Wood Series beers hit simultaneously, with a first-time recipient of the V.S.O. treatment.

Straight Jacket, the arresting embrace of malt and barrel, will return to continue staking its claim as a truly world-class Barleywine.

Ryeway to Heaven soars with a nigh-impossible balance of smooth sweetness and deft nuance.

Very Special Old Dark Mode gives our finest treatment to the 2021 debut we couldn't stop thinking about.

Two more for the road before we say goodbye. We saved some of the best for last.

Boss Ryeway returns, with WhistlePig's The Boss Hog VII barrels vivifying a titanic Rye Ale in the way that only those incredible barrels can.

Double Barrel Very Special Old Jacket takes the legend of V.S.O.J. to an entirely new level. We can't wait to see it.