Three Stars Brewing Co. - "Habeas Corpses" stock ale

Have you ever heard of a beer being aged in gin barrels? Me neither, but I came across one earlier in the year and definitely want to discuss it. It's called the "Habeas Corpses", and is from Washington, D.C.-based Three Stars Brewing Co. It's a stock ale aged in gin barrels, clocking in at a staggering 15.40% ABV. This monster has been chilling - literally, and figuratively - the back cooler at D'Vines, and I finally got around to bringing it home.

A stock ale is another term for an "old ale", which belongs in the very malt-forward family of English beers that includes barleywines. According to Craft Beer and Brewing magazine, the stock ale style is several hundred years old and lacks a precise definition; the article I read does suppose that they were likely quite strong, as a result of the first high-gravity runs of a parti-gyle brew, and were likely matured for months in casks, picking up flavors from the wood. The result was a malty, strong, and somewhat acidic beer.

My manager at D'Vines, Haroun, also works at Three Stars, so he was able to give some cool background context to the beer. According to him, this beer is a take on Three Star's "Madness", a 12.50% ABV ale, which was aged for 24 months in ginavit barrels from local spirit producer New Columbia Distillery to become the Habeas Corpses. Ginavit - like aquavit, maybe - is New Columbia's fall/winter gin which is rested in apple brandy barrels. So the order of operations for this was: the apple brandy came out of the barrels, gin went in and became ginavit, the ginavit came out, and the Madness went in to become the Habeas Corpses. By the brewers' reckoning, the two years spent in the barrels added roughly 3.0% ABV to the base beer, bringing the 12.50% ABV in the Madness to 15.40%.

Haroun says inspiration for the beer came from natural discussions with New Columbia; after years of collaborating. "We didn't just sit down and say, 'hey, let's make a gin-aged dark beer!', he says; they just they had an extra gin barrel kicking around figured they'd see if they can make a beer with it.

Speaking of - on to the beer.

Pours reddish brown from the 22oz bottle, coming out brick red. Some light brown head is generated, but not a lot, and it turns to white after a few moments.

Expectedly, it projects aromas of wood-aged barleywine. Nice.

Oh, yeah - awesome. It presents some juniper / gin flavors up front - within the first millisecond of tasting, practically. That goes away pretty quickly, and gives way to that syrupy, boozy, woody flavor that I love so much in quads and barleywines. That, too, is short-lived, and the rest of the ale is like an imperial brown ale, with a few twists: mostly the lingering saltiness and herbalness on the finish, definitely reminiscent of an herbal, junipered gin. Aftertaste is warming and woody.

A lot to unpack here, but mostly, I'm impressed at how the flavors come together. It's surprisingly mellow and even throughout, and that herbal astringency strangely complements the wood flavors. Not to mention the fact that it's stronger than most wines, yet does not "bulldoze" the tongue with those flavors. Frankly, this is how a "big beer" should be done - not overpowering flavors, not oily roasted notes or boozy waves, but a solid refined flavors with noticeable individual flavor "components." I really enjoyed this and wish it was available still. It's well worth the $14.99 per bottle.