Imperial Stout
• Jackie O’s Dark Apparition
• Thirsty Dog Siberian Night Imperial Stout
• MadTree Axis Mundi
• Rhinegeist Ink
ANASTASIA RUSSIAN IMPERIAL STOUT made its professional debut in 2007, but it had been around long before then. Owner and brewer Jay Wince, a fan of imperial stouts, made it as a homebrew in 2001, the first beer recipe that he ever designed on his own. (Two years later, the beer won an annual homebrew competition at Barley’s Brewing.)
Influenced by Bell’s Expedition, Wince set out to create a British-style imperial stout that was heavier on the malt flavor and lower in alcohol content.
“I wanted a fairly full-bodied, rich beer for sipping, no matter what temperature,” he says. “Most people really like those in the cold weather. It’s something to throw in a snifter and really enjoy.”
He certainly succeeded in producing an enjoyable brew. The beer is a two-time winner at the Great American Beer Festival, taking home a gold and a bronze. Wince, who launched the Weasel Boy production brewery and tasting room in 2007 with his wife, Lori, says it’s especially satisfying to win twice.
Anastasia, which is available only on draft, also comes in a version aged in bourbon barrels. In 2014, Weasel Boy had fun by tossing it in a Cabernet barrel.
Anyone familiar with Weasel Boy knows that its beers feature some sort of weasel-related name. That’s thanks to the Winces’ love of the animals. Anastasia, obviously, is the anomaly.
The name dates back to the beer’s homebrew days, when Jay was searching for a Russian-related name. There were plenty of Alexanders, a reference to various Russian tsars. He opted for Anastasia, the daughter of the last tsar, Nicholas II, who was executed along with his family in 1918. The homebrew picked up numerous medals at national competitions, so Wince saw no reason to change the name when Weasel Boy opened.
As for his original homebrewed batch of Anastasia, Wince still has two bottles aging. He’s hoping to crack them open when celebrating future Great American Beer Festival wins.
Barley’s Scottish Ale
Barley’s Brewing Co. | www.barleysbrewing.com
Barley’s Brewing Co.
467 N. High St.
Columbus, Ohio 43215
(614) 228–2537
First brewed: 1993
Style: Scotch ale
Alcohol content: 6.6 percent
IBUs: 14
Available: Year-round on draft
IF YOU LIKE THIS BEER, here are five other Ohio craft beers to try:
• Smokehouse MacLenny’s Scottish Ale
• Millersburg Doc’s Scotch Ale
• Thirsty Dog Twisted Kilt Scottish Export Ale
• Market Garden Wallace Tavern Scotch Ale
• Fifty West Going Plaid
BARLEY’S HEAD BREWER Angelo Signorino Jr. still remembers his boss’s response when he mentioned his plan to create a Scottish ale. Signorino, then the assistant brewer, wanted to make a beer similar to MacAndrew’s Scotch Ale from Scotland. To do so, he was going to fire up the gas burners to preheat the brew kettle and scorch the wort for a full half-hour, caramelizing it and getting the strongest malt flavor possible. The bottom of the brew kettle at Barley’s just happens to be flatter than most, making it difficult to clean but perfect for scorching wort evenly.
Former head brewer Scott Francis, though, initially was a little skeptical about the process. “Do you know how much that brew kettle costs?” he asked at the time.
Signorino reassured him that the plan was to keep the bottom of the kettle covered in water right up until sending in the wort, so the long scorch wasn’t going to damage the equipment. At least he didn’t think it would.
The beer—made with pale malts, British carapils, and a little bit of wheat—turned out to be a winner. Since that first batch in late 1993, it has always been on draft and has become Barley’s flagship beer. For years, the ale was called MacLenny’s Scottish Ale, but it was renamed Barley’s Scottish Ale in 2015. All the caramel flavor and color comes from that scorching, which caramelizes the sugars in a way similar to the process of making crème brûlée.
Signorino has never varied that time-consuming, half-hour process.
“After all these years, you look for ways to shave minutes off the day, get home to your family sooner, but it’s not a compromise that we’ll make with the Scottish,” he says. “We’ll continue to scorch it for that full half an hour because the results make it worthwhile.”
For years, Signorino also brewed at the nearby Smokehouse Brewing Company in Columbus and made a Scottish ale there. But it just wasn’t the same, given the different makeup of the brew kettle.
“This brewery’s version is one of a kind for sure,” Signorino says.
Berliner Weisse
Jackie O’s Brewery | www.jackieos.com
Jackie O’s Brewery
Production brewery/tasting room:
25 Campbell St.
Athens, Ohio 45701
(740) 447–9063
Brewpub:
24 W. Union St.
Athens, Ohio 45701
(740) 592–9686
First brewed: 2011
Style: Berliner weisse
Alcohol content: 5 percent
IBUs: 14
Available: Year-round
IF YOU LIKE THIS BEER, here are five other Ohio craft beers to try:
• Thirsty Dog Berliner Weisse
