AROMA NOTES:   Stare anise, orange peel, lemon, middle eastern spices
 

TASTING NOTES: Fresh oranges, cracked white pepper, black licorice jelly beans (in the best way possible), aftermath of gin 

 

From the Brewer:

   

  Is Mardi Gras your favorite holiday? Do you love wearing colorful beads? Are you often wanting to eat 5lbs of crawdads? Boy, do I have the beer for you!
 

   Mystik Krewe Breux, A recipe that I am real excited for you to try! If you haven't figured out by now, I'm pretty passionate about things that I love, and New Orleans is pretty high up on that list. From the drinks, to the history, to the food & my favorite, the amazing people, I wanted to pay homage to a city that I care so much about by creating a recipe that I imagine all of us enjoying while walking around those old cobblestone streets. I chose to go with a Sazerac inspired beer since the Sazerac is considered the official cocktail of NOLA, and what better day to release it on the last day of Mardi Gras, FAT TUESDAY!

 

  In wanting to create something cocktail inspired, who better to hit up than our homies over at Ventura Spirits? This was a real fun collab where Matty & I talked to the head distiller and Owner of VS and agreed on a list of botanicals to use in the beer. We ended up with star anise, fresh orange peels, marjoram (an herb synonymous with oregano used heavily in the Middle East), lemon verbena (a real herbaceous spice plant that's commonly used to make teas) & dried hibiscus to deepen the color of the beer. What we're left with is something that has a great aroma due to all those botanicals being recirculated on the beer, but not a punch in the face with overbearing flavors. The team and I were real careful on this recirculation and taste tested quite a bit till we agreed to take the botanicals off the beer. The flavors are well balanced, the star anise mimics the absinth that's traditionally used in Sazeracs. The rye malt mimics the rye bourbon base used in the cocktail and brings out a bit of spiciness that other malts don't have. Speaking of spicy, Matty had the great idea of using Hallertau Mittlefruh hops on the hot side of brewing. Hallertau has a spicy, peppery characteristic that works well with this beer.