On April 28, 2018, we opened Sandhills Brewing in Hutchinson, KS, to the public for the first time. That was a year ago! We’ve come a long ways since our first customers walked into our non-descript, hard-to-find warehouse in downtown Hutchinson and its hard to believe it’s already been a year.
To commemorate our first anniversary, we’re bringing out a few really special beers that we can’t wait to share with you. This week, Thursday through Sunday, our tap list will feature three different barrel-aged beers, two variants of two of our standard beers, and three of our standard releases.
Red Tail – Barrel-aged Flanders Red
The pinnacle of what we produce, Red Tail is a Flanders-Style Red ale based on one of the traditional beers produced in Belgium. Featuring strong acidity, deep red hues, and strong caramel, toffee, and vanilla notes from oak barrels, Red Tail is a beer to sip and ponder throughout an evening.
This is the third time we’ve released Red Tail, each time from different oak barrels, an for this release we packaged just two kegs from our small barrel program (barrels ranging in size from 5-15 gallons).
Red Tail will be available exclusively on draft with no to go options available.
Raven – Barrel-aged Imperial Stout
Raven has made frequent appearances on our draft line up over the last six months but this weekend we’re bringing out a very special version of it.
In July, 2018, we acquired a whiskey barrel that had been used to age real New-England maple syrup. Having had the opportunity to drink several mayple-syrup-barrel-aged stouts from other producers, we knew we needed to age Raven in the barrel.
The barrel was filled with 53 gallons of Raven on August 3, 2018, and then it sat for the next eight months, slowly extracting character from the barrel and its previous contents.
Raven naturally exhibits strong chocolate and coffee flavors and aroma that come from the malts we use to make the beer. Combining that profile with the barrel gave us a beautifully rich beer that pours a deep black color and has notes of caramel, maple, whiskey, and vanilla layered into the chocolate and coffee flavors already in Raven.
Barrel-aged Raven will be available on draft for on-site pours and growler fills to go.
Kestrel – Tequila Barrel-aged Gose
Kestrel is a tart wheat beer brewed with small amounts of sea salt and coriander. It has frequently graced our tap list with fruited variants and, on occasion, a tequila barrel-aged version. For this weekend we’re very excited to the Tequila Barrel-Aged Kestrel returning!
After spending four months in a tequila barrel, the beer exhibits a pleasant tartness, bright lemony characters, and a lovely balance of salt and tequila that gives the beer a slight margarita-esk profile. It’s a truly balanced beer that’s perfect for sunny Kansas days on the patio.
Tequila barrel Kestrel will be available on draft and in 16oz cans to go.
Full Weekend Beer List
Along with the specialty beers mentioned above, we will have five other beers available through the weekend. Some of the beers are in limited supply so we have a backup list as well to fill in when kegs run dry.
The full draft list for the weekend will be:
- Red Tail, barrel-aged Flanders Red
- Raven, maple-syrup-barrel-aged Imperial Stout
- Kestrel, tequila barrel-aged Gose (tart wheat)
- Raven, Imperial Stout with Coffee
- Junco, New England-Style IPA with El Dorado, Cascade, and Equanot hops
- Chickadee, Berliner Weisse (tart wheat)
- Barred Owl, Scottish Export
- Swift, Belgian Saison with peaches
Backup draft beers:
- Pegrine Pils, German-inspired Pilsner
- Raven, Imperial Stoute
- Three Rings Brewery Yankee Rose, Blonde Ale
- Three Rings Brewery Bulldog, Oatmeal Stout
- Three Rings Brewery Wanderlust, Scottish Red
In 16oz cans, we have:
- Kestrel, tequila barrel-aged Gose (tart wheat)
- Junco, New England-Style IPA with El Dorado, Cascade, and Equanot hops (limited supply)
- Chickadee, Berliner Weisse (tart wheat)
- Barred Owl, Scottish Export
- Sparrow, Dark English Mild
- Barrel-aged Sparrow, Dark English Mild aged in a Jack Daniels barrel
- Spruce Saison, Belgian Saison with Spruce Tips
We would also like to share that almost exactly a year from opening our Hutchinson brewery, our Mission, KS, location will also be quietly opening to the public!
Sandhills Brewing in Mission, KS, at 5612 Johnson Dr, will be open Friday, April 26, from 3 – 10PM and Saturday, April 27, from 1 – 10PM.
It’s been a great year and we’re thrilled to now be able to serve you beers in Hutchinson and Mission, Kansas.