North Portland’s StormBreaker Brewing brings us the BrewStillery Festival every year, partnering breweries with distilleries, the fruition of one of those collabs is their Barnstormer Imperial Red Straight Malt Whiskey. The new malt whiskey from Portland’s Stone Barn Brandyworks is a very limited release you can sample at the brewery, but you can only purchase bottles at the distillery and at select liquor stores in Oregon.

StormBreaker and Stone Barn first partnered in 2017, when the brewery began brewing a mid-winter whiskey wash for the distillery, created using StormBreaker’s Good…Not Great Imperial Red Ale as the base. StormBreaker brewmaster and co-owner Rob Lutz and his team originally created that beer under a different name as an imperial rye beer that built on the recipe of its popular Mississippi Red Ale. After it won a handful of competition medals, StormBreaker tongue in cheek changed the name to Good…Not Great. The newly named beer went on to win a Gold Medal at one of the largest beer competitions on the planet, the 2018 World Beer Cup.

Good…Not Great imparts a nice malt character to the whiskey, with the addition of rye providing a nice balance and a touch of spice. This year’s Barnstormer barrel release is 92 proof and has bright butterscotch notes, hints of its red ale origins, and spice from the rye malt. The barley malts fused into a delicious Imperial blend that’s mellow with a sweet, lingering finish.

“We started the partnership with Stone Barn because we really respect the spirits they produce and we founded StormBreaker as a place that, in addition to beer, also puts a focus and priority on whiskey and cocktails,” explained Lutz. “This has been a special project for us over the past six years, and we’re excited to share the latest release with the Portland community.”

Barnstormer Imperial Red Straight Malt Whiskey can be purchased at Stone Barn and select liquor stores around Portland, as well as for on-site consumption at all StormBreaker locations:  Mississippi Ave., St. John’s, and Beer Cart at The Yard in Montavilla. 

The StormBreaker team has created two special limited availability cocktails featuring the new whiskey available at its locations:

• Brainstorm - featuring Barnstormer whiskey and Nocino, an Italian walnut liqueur. It’s a super lush, deep, and dark drink, with the walnut and butterscotch from the whiskey playing well together.

• Ramazotti Blvd. - featuring Barnstormer whiskey, Ramazzotti Amaro, and ORE Vermouth made by Runcible Cider in Mosier, OR, this sipper is a boozy, dark play on a Manhattan.

Special Tasting Event - Sunday, November 26

On Sunday, November 26, from 3-5pm, Stone Barn and StormBreaker will be hosting a complimentary sample pairing of Barnstormer with StormBreaker’s Mississippi Red Ale at its Mississippi Ave. location. Samples will be available to all customers so they can try this latest release of Barnstormer Imperial Red Straight Malt Whiskey.

Find StormBreaker on social media: @stormbreakerbrewing and facebook.com/stormbreakerbrewing.

About StormBreaker Brewing 

StormBreaker Brewing is an award-winning craft brewery co-founded in Portland, Oregon by Dan Malech and Rob Lutz in 2014. The brewery focuses on a wide range of craft beer and specialty craft cocktails and mocktails in two distinct locations, and strives to constantly produce innovative and high quality offerings. And don’t forget about the StormerBreaker Beer Cart located inside The Yard at Montavilla at NE 82nd and Davis, serving up beer, wine, cider and cocktails available onsite or to go. Learn more about StormBreaker by visiting www.stormbreakerbrewing.com.