DURANGO, Colo. — With a nod to Durango’s budding marijuana culture, Steamworks Brewing Co. rolls out a potent preparation for the monthly Firkin Friday. The “Day Wrecker” firkin will be tapped at 3 p.m. on Friday, June 6, 2014.
“There’s no pot in the Day Wrecker,” assured Ken Martin, Certified Cicerone┬« and Steamworks director of brewing operations. “Just conjuring an image as this beer is a very powerful rendition of our bourbon barrel-aged 50/50 Imperial IPA. We’ve had four or five incarnations of it over the past several years, and it has been a fan favorite since its inception.”
The Day Wrecker consists of a 50/50 blend of Steamworks’ Conductor Imperial IPA and the Elephant Rider Imperial IPA — both very strong, well-hopped but distinctly different IPAs that blend and age well together, according to Martin. The Steamworks brewers also added a gallon or so of actively fermenting Third Eye PA to facilitate the re-fermentation that creates the carbonation in the beer.
“So it’s all three of our favorite IPAs,” said Steamworks Brewer and Certified Cicerone┬« Spencer Roper, noting that this particular batch has been in a Breckenridge bourbon barrel since October 2013. “Besides lending flavors of the whiskey, this American oak barrel gives the beer notes of wood and a nice soft vanilla character.”
A firkin is an old English unit of volume, typically a wooden cask equal to approximately one-quarter of a regular barrel, or nine/ten gallons. The word “firkin” is derived from the Middle Dutch word vierdekijn, which means “fourth” as in one-fourth the size.
In the United Kingdom, cask-conditioned beer, or a firkin, is known as “real ale,” and to be authentic, cask ale must be kept at ‘cellar temperature’ — which is about 54 degrees — as it’s conditioned in its cask. In cask conditioning, the yeast transforms the sugar into alcohol within the cask, and carbonation results from the trapped carbon dioxide occurring as a byproduct.
Steamworks initiated its Firkin Fridays to introduce unusual, specialty craft beers to patrons, and augment its regular, award-winning offerings. Steamworks, open 11 a.m. to closing seven days a week, is located at 801 E. Second. Ave., Durango (970.259.9200). For further information, visitwww.steamworksbrewing.com.