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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Roll out the party

Rick Bonino

It’s no secret that Twelve String's Terry Hackler is hooked on barrels.

Since doing his first barrel-aged beer early last year – a blackberry stout in a Cab Franc barrel – Hackler has acquired close to 30 of them, wine and whiskey, tequila and cognac, most recently rum.

Now he’ll be highlighting at least a dozen large-cask creations – including some never before released – in the first BarrelFest, Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. at the Spokane Valley brewery.

“We’ve talked about it for a long time, but we’ve been so busy, it’s been hard to put something like this together,” Hackler says.

Look for the likes of:

– Whiskey barrel Electric Slide imperial IPA, in both regular and sour versions.

– A soured Double Barrel Don’t Fret porter that was aged in both wine and whiskey barrels.

– A pomegranate-infused porter from a merlot barrel.

– Two versions of a new imperial porter, done separately in whiskey and cabernet sauvignon barrels. (Stay tuned for a coconut rendition of that one in rum barrels down the road.)

– Four takes on the Drop D Stout, from whiskey, syrah, port and tequila barrels.

– The always-popular tequila barrel Imperial Mango Mambo hefeweizen.

– The last of the whiskey barrel Volume 1 Anniversary imperial IPA.

All will be served in 6-ounce samplers, individually or in flights of three (and you might want to bring a growler, just in case). The Thai Lunch Box food truck also will be on hand.

And if you can’t make it Sunday, Hackler hopes to have two or three barrel-aged beers on tap at all times from now on.