Splinter Beers

Splinter beers are for the believers. After 40 winks on oak, these beers are a different story altogether. Sometimes we add fruit for tartness and complexity. Or wild yeast for funk. Sometimes we add both. Put them in your favorite glass or put them in your cellar. The next chapter is yours.

Some beers just belong in barrels, and Flying Mouflan – a resiny, chocolatey giant of a barleywine ale – is one of them. We pour every drop we brew into bourbon barrels, taming the sharpness of the hops and uncovering layers of salted caramel, pecan pie and rum raisin.

Availability: Brewery only.

2018 Release! Settle in for an alternate take on Troegenator. An extended stay in bourbon barrels has transformed this fiercely loved double bock into a nuanced layer cake of toasted coconut, creme brûlée, and whiskey-soaked oak. Way back when, Troegenator caught everyone – including us – by surprise, but putting it in barrels was a sure thing. Opulent, silky and downright otherworldly, Bourbon Barrel-Aged Troegenator is for the believers.

Availability: See our Brew Finder for availability.

One day, we muddled some fresh blackberries with brown sugar, lemon juice and bourbon. “Mmm,” we thought. “This should be a beer.” Blackberry Tizzy is that spirited daydream come true. Sour fermentation tempers the juicy blackberries with a touch of tartness, and a spell in bourbon barrels delivers ripples of oak and toasted coconut.

Availability: See our Brew Finder for availability.

Dear Peters family… We heard about the nectarines that were bruised in a hailstorm. Well, what won’t work at a roadside stand will be aces for brewing. We’re picturing a bracing sour with a sweet over-ripe nose. Brett for funk, lacto for pucker, and a spell on oak to bring it all home. Those nectarines? We’ll take ’em all.

Availability: See our Brew Finder for availability.

A spell on oak with our house culture – a wayward mix of microflora we’ve been cultivating since our very first foray into wild fermentation – transformed this saison into something altogether unexpected. The wood tempers the traditional notes of clove and pepper, making way for layers of woodsy earthiness and lemon tang.

Availability: Brewery only.

2018 Release! Oh wow. They say the nose knows, but Freaky Peach pulls a fast one. Its aroma promises charred caramel and grilled stone fruit, but the flavor delivers waves of bright peaches, spun sugar and whiskey sour. It’s young. It’s tart. It’s super-freaky.

Availability: See our Brew Finder for availability.

One day, we got the urge to one-up our already colossal Imperial Stout, and we’re glad we did. A year in bourbon barrels has smoothed the sharp edges of Impending Descent, and armfuls of chocolate, vanilla and raw cane sugar make it a meal. A warm, velvety, intense meal. If you have the patience, you could tuck a few away in your cellar, but we think it’s ready for your glass.

Availability: See our Brew Finder for availability.

Each spring, the sudden flowering of cherry blossoms serves as a reminder: What’s ordinary one day may dazzle the next. In Mortal Cherry, what starts as a pie-crust-like blend of wheat and pilsner malt is wholly transformed by a union of cherries. Balaton add bright notes of sweet pit fruit and cinnamon, while Montmorency keep this Pennsylvania Wild Ale delicate and tart.

Availability: Brewery only.

Nebulous starts with our triple golden ale LaGrave. Some goes into wine barrels, some goes into virgin oak, and some goes into foeders teeming with Brettanomyces. The barrels ferment for months, sometimes years. As long as it takes. The wild yeast gives life to notes of honeysuckle, pear and white peach, while the oak layers in a tinge of vanilla. Bottle-conditioning puts a thousand fine points on it.

Availability: See our Brew Finder for availability. Standing in the fields of a local farm and dreaming about a peach sour, we hit upon an idea: Let’s leave the fruit on the trees a little longer to coax out as much tangy juiciness as possible. A few weeks later, we trucked the overripe peaches back to the brewery, sliced ’em open and tossed the flesh into fermenters. Brettanomyces adds a touch of tropical fruit and funk, lactobacillus provides the pucker, and a spell on American oak brings it all home.

Availability: See our Brew Finder for availability.

Wild Elf grows from deep roots, courtesy of our oak foeders and pure local flavor derived from wild yeast that rode into the brewery on the back of PA-harvested Balaton cherries. Based on the Mad Elf recipe, Wild Elf goes through a long secondary fermentation in wood barrels, unveiling tart cherry pit and farmhouse bliss. This bottle-conditioned limited release is highly carbonated and comes to life when the cork pops.

Availability: See our Brew Finder for availability.