New beers: Black is back for winter season

Oakshire Brewing Company of Eugene, Oregon will release its second Barrel Aged Beer under the label Hellshire on Nov. 12. Sales of Hellshire II begin at noon at the brewery in their newly remodeled tasting room and will end at 4 p.m. The second beer in the Hellshire series is an imperial stout that was 100% aged in Buffalo Trace and Heaven Hill Bourbon Barrels for seven months. A brewery press release describes notes of vanilla, coconut, oak and bourbon intertwine with the beer’s complex chocolate and roasted coffee character. It is 10.5% ABV sold in 22 ounce wax dipped bottles.

* Odell Brewing in Colorado will package Mountain Standard Time in four-packs this year. Named for the time zone in which the brewery resides, the Double Black IPA features hops grown on Colorado’s western slope. Cascade and Chinook varietals present a robust hop aroma and essence that complements the rich and roasty malt backbone.

Odell Brewing will host a “Mountain Standard Bash” on Saturday to kick off the brew and celebrate Colorado’s ski and snowboard season. The outdoor event begins at 6 p.m. and will feature samples of the brew, live music, food trucks, a variety of local ski and snowboard purveyors, and a screening of the Teton Gravity Research film, Under the Influence. The brewery will also raffle a custom Odell Brewing snowboard by Oz Snowboards with proceeds benefiting the CSU Snowriders.

* The Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company, which has only sparingly offered its Big Eddy beesr in the past, today announced the return of its Russian Imperial Stout, the first in a series of Big Eddy brews. In 2012, the brewery will release three more in the series: a Double India Pale Ale, a Baltic Porter, and a Scotch Ale.

The Russian Imperial Stout, only available November to January, is a deep mahogany brew featuring dark fruit, espresso and mocha character and finishing with toffee and molasses notes. The beer is named after the Big Eddy Spring, the lifeline of the Leinenkugel’s brewery in Chippewa Falls, Wis. since 1867,

* Narragansett Porter is back for the winter season. Narragansett Porter is brewed with Chinook hops for bitterness, Simcoe hops for aroma, black malt, pale malt, chocolate malt, Munich malt, crystal malt and roasted barley. Narragansett first brewed porter in 1916. It is 7% ABV and 28 IBUs.

Throughout 2011, Narragansett has expanded into a number of new markets beyond its home base of New England, including Southern New York, North Carolina, East and Northeastern Pennsylvania, and Florida.