Arts
For a few years running, Cruz Blanca’s Luchador series has been perhaps the most inspired and creative lineup of the holy trinity of Chicago barrel-aged beer special releases. We get a mouthful on this episode, as we drink through all eight of these big and burly beers aged in a seemingly endless number of different barrels. And it’s only half stouts; find out what kind of magic Cruz gets up to with Imperial Blonde Ales and Imperial Rice Ales. In addition to our complete remote tasting (with head brewer Jacob Sembrano giving us frequent text updates), we talk about the new life philosophy to help endure the rest of the year, our desire for some dry-bushed beers, and why we might be bailing on barrel-aged December prematurely. Suizo! Beers Reviewed El PopStar (Imperial rice ale aged in American whiskey finished Spanish sherry barrels) Tigre Blanco (Imperial rice ale aged in Italian muscatel barrels with white vermouth botanicals) Coco Fantasma (Imperial blonde ale aged in bourbon, rum, and rye whiskey barrels with chocolate, coconut, and almond) Loco Dinero (Imperial blonde ale aged in bourbon, rum, and rye whiskey barrels with Sparrow Coffee) Rey Gordo (Imperial stout aged in 11 year Bardstown bourbon barrels) Rey Cuvee (2017 + 2018 + 2019 Rey Gordo blended and barrel-aged in American whiskey finished Spanish sherry barrels) Senior Bandito (Imperial stout aged in rye whiskey barrels with sweet cherry, cinnamon, and spices) Tarzan Boy (Imperial stout aged in South American rum barrels with banana, Oaxacan coffee, piloncillo, and vanilla)