By Rick Garner

Launching this month, Samuel Adams 13th is a Belgian Stout that combines the roasted chocolate and coffee flavors of a stout with the spicy character of a Belgian Ale that’s been aged in oak. The brew gets its name from the mythical “witching hour,” playing off its mysterious combination of flavors and 13 brewing ingredients.

Like all the brews in the Barrel Room Collection, 13th Hour is aged in Eastern European oak barrels that were originally used to age brandy is Italy; they impart a subtly sweet, toasty note to the beer. The barrels also allow a small amount of oxygen to slowly seep into the brew, smoothing out its flavors. 

Also like its fellow Barrel Room brews, 13th Hour is blended with Kosmic Mother Funk, a Belgian ale aged at the Boston Brewery in oak casks and tanks for over six months. While enjoying their stay in the oak vessels, the beers undergo a secondary fermentation with brettanomyces and lacticobacillus yeasts that result in a rich tropical fruit note and some sourness.

13th Hour is packaged in a 750ml bottle finished with a champagne cork and is available year-round.