Patrons 24.03 Ghost Venom//Red Wine Barrel Aged Imperial

This third release in the Tom Newell series was originally brewed back in February, when Jess and Tom from Young Master Brewery, Hong Kong, stopped by on their UK tour. Young Master are at the forefront of craft brewing in Southeast Asia and carry a reputation for outstanding barrel-aged releases, so it was a no-brainer to work with them on something decadent. For the base beer, we put together an adjunct- free, rich, and viscous imperial stout which puts the spotlight on the flavours of the malt. Starting with an English ale barley malt, we added Munich malt and flaked oats to build in the body and extra mouthfeel, and then selected a range of roasted grains, including chocolate rye, to achieve a deep, dark colour, plenty of dark chocolate and light roast coffee notes, and an extra touch of earthy spice. Finished off with some crystal rye plus medium and dark crystal barley malts for dark fruit and cinder toffee touches, we had a wonderfully complex stout on our hands, which after a month of fermentation and conditioning, was transferred to a selection of freshly emptied French Burgundy and Pinot Noir barrels for six months, to pick up the rich red grape, light oak and red cherry flavours they held.