Origin of Darkness

The Origin of Darkness is our first limited-edition, Barrel-Aged series; we’ve taken the epitome of barrel-aged stouts, and carefully crafted 6 variations with some of our best friends from around the world. Each partner has added their own take and ingredients to our base imperial stout (11.5% ABV) and are all distinctly different from each other. With patience, time and some influence from the Canadian winter, these brews have bided their time in Kentucky Bourbon Barrels and now releasing at all once. These will be available at the brewery, online store on November 17th at 11AM, and other Canadian and USA markets soon after.

BREWSKI, HELSINBORG, SWEDEN

brewski.se
Inspired by classic Swedish desserts we combined the flavours dark chocolate, vanilla and bourbon with juicy strawberries and the bright character of lemon balm. Art by: Romy Block, Toronto, Canada

A touch of Sweden, strawberries and lemonbalm, in most children’s childhood memories over here. -Marcus @Brewski

DONUT MONSTER, HAMILTON, CANADA

We teamed up with our hometown hero friends at Donut Monster to create this donut-inspired Origin of Darkness. We used classic donut flavours of toasted coconut, vanilla and cream and blended those with the dark chocolate and bourbon from the barrels. Art by: Jianwei Loo, Singapore

FORBIDDEN ROOT, CHICAGO, USA

Masters of mixing flavours, we teamed up with our friends at Forbidden Root from Chicago to create this blend of deliciousness. We added Radish Honey, Guajillo Peppers and Caoco Nibs to the barrels, which results in massive deep chocolate flavour, with background heat from the peppers and subtle spice hints of the unique radish honey. Art by: Jess Leung, Toronto, Canada

We were recently invited to the Honey and Beer Summit in St. Louis, MO, where we were turned on to this really incredible single source honey. Although the name might suggest that the resulting honey would be radish-like, it’s quite the opposite. Fermented in beer (or refermented in a barrel) this honey actually presents an incredible marshmallow flavor that we really found unique.-

Tori Mason, Marketing Coordinator

KEX BREWING, REYJKAVIK, ICELAND

Our boys from KEX Brewing in Reykjavik bring a unique taste of Icelandic flavours to this Origin of Darkness. They brought with them some Icelandic Cocao Nibs from Omnom Chocolate and Sea Salt from SaltVerk. We added these ingredients to the bourbon barrels with vanilla and lactose, to give a mouth watering combination of dark chocolate and vanilla, with an enjoyably salty finish. Art by: Natalie Very B. Toronto, Canada

The salt is harvested from your pure ocean and dried up with our geothermal power , the old way and the best way to make salt. it comes from Saltverk. Our boy at Omnom is really picky with who they take there cacao-nibs from and there for we only get high quality nibs which leads us with really thick and rich flavour. This makes up this truly amazing beer that i look so forward to taste again after been in the barrels now almost for a year –

Hinrik Carl Ellertsson, Co owner/ brewer

MOON DOG BREWING, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

Inspired by Tasmanian black truffles and their culinary use in Australia, we collaborated with our friends at Moon Dog Brewing in Melbourne. We combined the flavours of dark chocolate, bourbon and vanilla and added black truffles to age in the barrels. The combination is a velvety mix of earthy, chocolate and vanilla deliciousness. Art by: Eunice Lai, Markham, Canada

At Moon Dog we love the finer things. You’ll often find owner Josh in the brewery bar sharing a tin of caviar with brewery dog Tess and knocking back a tasty brew. This has lead us to work with all sorts of ingredients and techniques over the years from ageing in cognac barrels to developing a way to utilize some of our of Australia’s best Tasmanian Black Truffles in our beers. We love Tasmanian black truffles for what they can add to a beer. The subtle earthy decadence and umami flavours adds a really interesting layer to beer, especially in darker beers such as imperial porters and barrel aged stouts. – Dave Langlands, Export Manager

WILD BEER CO, SOMERSET, UK

This Origin of Darkness collaboration is with our great friends at Wild Beer Co. from Somerset, UK. and is an homage to our mutual love of Asian cuisine. We added freshly caramelized white miso to the bourbon barrel-aged stout. The combination of earthy Unami, dark chocolate and bourbon vanilla is a truly delicious experience. Art by: Liz Walshak, Boston, USA

We’ve used Caramelized miso as an alternative to salted caramel.  The miso with give an extra layer of complexity, bringing in some umami to balance the sweetness and vanilla notes from the Kentucky bourbon barrels – Giles Jenkinson