The Kernel Imperial Brown Stout Whisky Barrel Aged

The base beer, as always, follows our well worn groove of using recipes from the archives of extinct British breweries, this one from London’s Barclay Perkins, from 1856. The Imperial Brown Stouts developed into what became known as the Russian Imperial Stouts, and this particular recipe developed into the Courage RIS, which is most notable because a) it was an excellent beer, and b) it continued to be produced until 1992, as the only surviving link to a certain brewing tradition that was huge in London, and made London famous, for over 200 years. And of course, a tradition which is now itself about extinct.

In May 2025, we filled 4 different barrels (Glen Moray 1994 and 2013, Glenburgie 2011 (all Speyside) and Glengarioch 2003 (Highland)), sourced via the Scottish Malt Whisky Society.  These were then blended back together and packed in September. The result is surprisingly unsurprising: everything in its right place, smooth and balanced despite all the big flavours thrown together in this beer.  Aromatically, the whisky is most prominent, but it smells like whisky without the heat, which leaves vanilla, toasted wood and coconut. 

The flavour flows directly from this in the expected and logical fashion: vanilla custard, apple, dried fruit (prune and fig), all these tones suggesting a sweetness that however is not itself prominent, and there is still a touch of bitterness from the beer, but it is rather the tannins from the wood that give this its structure, holding it back away from sweetness and booziness by keeping the finished poised, even slightly dry.