Beer of the Week: Træblod

From the Beer Writer: There’s no need to gild the lily when you have a sultry, delicious imperial stout that your brewing team enjoys making and your customers clamor for. But the brew crew at Miramar’s Mikkeller Brewing San Diego isn’t known for leaving things well enough alone. These adventurous folks’ enthusiasm for taking things to the next level is documented care of hundreds of cans and bottles of creative and even outlandish liquid creations. And in anticipation of the annual release of their breakfast-inspired, maple- and coffee-infused Træblod Imperial Stout, they readied five barrel-aged variations of the beer that line up like the contents of IHOP’s tabletop syrup caddies. Unadorned aging in Weller Wheated Bourbon barrels amplify the base beer’s breakfast-condiment characteristics in one version, while purple fruit and cinnamon turn the whole thing upside down in a “Blueberry Waffle” spin. A Pecan Pie variant (the only one of the five to trade bourbon barrels for used brandy receptacles) veers into spiced-nut territory, while a “Crunch Edition” incorporates ingredients both traditional (cacao nibs) and unexpected (puffed rice). And for those who like a little waffle with their syrup, there’s a decadent “Reserve” offering that’s aged in maple bourbon barrels with Indonesian vanilla beans and clocks in at 14.4% alcohol-by-volume (more than a skoch higher than the 11.7% base stout). If this sounds like the type of beery breakfast that’s up your alley, get in on the action here.

From the Brewer: “Our beloved imperial stout, Træblod, is brewed with Vermont maple syrup and coffee, and it’s made its annual return for 2021. The beer’s design is inspired by early mornings at the diner, drinking coffee and eating crispy waffles. Large and undaunted, I would expect depths of baking cocoa, sweet toasted breads and freshly ground coffee beans. Brewed with a full body and coating viscosity, Træblod stands up well to various treatments and barrel-aging. A San Diego creation through and through, our team loves brewing and releasing this beer each year.”—Daniel Cady, Brewer, Mikkeller Brewing San Diego