I just wrote a quick bit on two Atlanta beer/spirit collaborations that follow a broader trend nationwide among craft distillers and breweries. Basically, craft distillers are taking craft beers and using them as the base for distilled spirits - most of which can be called “whiskey” since they are grain based, some of which get called “bierschnaps” (like Atlanta’s Outlier No. 3 which was distilled from a Christmas beer packed with spices).
I haven’t tried Charbay’s beer to whiskey experiments, nor Two Lanterns (made from Sam Adams Boston Lager) - anyone out there with thoughts on those?
Had a pour of one of the Charbays once, it was nice, subtle hoppy flavor from the beer. Really cool and interesting to try.
Deschutes distills their Black Butte porter, they had pours for sale at their Portland brewpub but it’s not widely released. I asked since I liked it so much, apparently it’s really limited.
Mikkeller distills a gin and “black” whiskey, I had an old fashioned with the latter and it had a nice coffee flavor to it. I was told that it’s done through a contract distillery. Also not widely available.
Sku the whiskey blogger wrote about the Charbay releases in the past, he gave them good reviews: