Black Butte XXIX

Each year the Deschutes Brewery celebrates by releasing an Imperial, Barrel-Aged version of their flagship Black Butte Porter. This year the Bend, Oregon brewery, released Black Butte XXIX 29th Birthday Reserve.

The Black Butte XXIX 29th Birthday Reserve is a porter with Dutched cocoa, Saigon cinnamon, and cayenne with 50% aged in Bourbon and Rum barrels. For those non-beer connoisseurs, that last sentence means that the Black Butte XXIX 29th Birthday Reserve is based on the concept of Mexican hot chocolate.

The Black Butte XXIX 29th Birthday Reserve is an imperial porter. As opposed to the more common imperial stout, an imperial porter is not as dry and has a slightly less bitter roasted coffee hints from the black patent malt, which are most commonly used in stouts. This imperial porter also infuses a midnight wheat malt which is a new ingredient. The midnight wheat malt provides a similar flavor and color to the Black Butte XXIX.

If you are a beer enthusiast here is a breakdown of the Black Butte XXIX 29th Birthday Reserve:

Malt: Pale, Wheat, C75, Chocolate, Midnight Wheat
Hops: Millennium, Cascade, Tettnang
Other: Turbinado Sugar, “Dutched” Cocoa, Cinnamon, Cayenne
Barrel Aging: 50% Aged in Bourbon and Rum Barrels

The Black Butte XXIX 29th Birthday Reserve was released in June 2017 and will be available until all 22oz bottles are sold out. Summer may not be the best time to sip down a heavy Imperial Porter such as this. But once winter rolls along, you’ll be sitting by a fire, wishing you had a beer like the Black Butte XXIX. Based on the concept of Mexican hot chocolate, this Imperial Porter will warm up your insides on a snowy, cold afternoon.

See if Black Butte XXIX is available at a store near you.