Craft beer aficianados, this one’s for you: San Diego’s Green Flash Brewing Co. plans to release a very rare brew next weekend – so rare, there are only 600 bottles of it.
On Sept. 17, Green Flash will release Ochre Frumento, a barleywine brew aged for six years in brandy and bourbon barrels. The deep brown beer has a 17.5 percent ABV – the highest ABV of any Green Flash Beer ever released, the company said.
Green Flash describes the brew as having a sharp aroma and boasting “prominent flavors of toffee and caramel” plus “notes of ripened stone fruits with nutty complexity” that unfolds as you sip it.
Green Flash says there are only 600 bottles of Ochre Frumento available. It will be sold only at the company’s Cellar 3 tasting room in Poway (12260 Crosthwaite Dr.) beginning at noon on Sept. 17 on a first come, first served basis.
The very limited-edition, 750ml, cork-finished bottles will cost $24 a pop; there's a strict two-bottle limit per customer.
The special suds were created by Barrelmaster Pat Korn, who oversees operations at Cellar 3, for Green Flash Brewing’s “Barrelmaster’s Reserve Series.”
The series, which launched earlier this year, includes barrel-aged, one-off projects created by Korn produced in very small batches – between 600 to 1,800 bottles per release. The creations are bottled when ready, with essentially no real drop date. Korn makes the final call on what to bottle and when to bottle.
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Ochre Frumento is the second release in the series. The first – Lustrous Frumento with Coffee – was released on May 21 and sold out within a few hours, Green Flash said.
That beer – “black ale” with a rich double-stout base – was aged for 30 months in bourbon barrels. Cold brew coffee from San Diego coffee roaster Mostra was added to intensify and complement the rich caramel and vanilla notes of the beer. It had a 13.1 percent ABV.
Korn and his crew may release additional brews in the Barrelmaster's Reserve Series this year, but details on each one of those projects will not be released until the beers are ready.
After all, you can't rush a good pour.
