Under the guise of the Stochasticity Project, Stone has announced the release of their newest brew: Your Father Smelt of Elderberries. In a rather regal press release, the brewery described the beer as, “More mysterious than a Trojan rabbit, more unexpected than the abrupt intervention of peacekeepers at the close of a cinematic epic, this modern take on a medieval beer recipe celebrates the brewsters of yore, forging forward while harkening back to ancient times.”
The movie so amusingly referenced is the comedic King Arthur epic, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” Loosely – stress loosely – based on the legend of King Arthur’s search for the elusive grail from which Jesus drank at the Last Supper, the movie is an outrageous commentary on medieval practices, sword and sorcery movies and silliness in general.
The beer is a nod to the movie because it includes ingredients that have fallen from favor, but were common in the era of crusades and legends. Other than the named elderberry, Your Father Smelt of Elderberries also incorporates Target and Golding hops and weighs in at a hefty 10.3 percent alcohol-by-volume.
“(Your Father Smelt of Elderberries) …Has the malty and warming qualities of English barley wines and old ales,” says brewmaster Mitch Steele. “There is the twist of adding elderberries, a fruit that was used in medieval brewing. Peat-smoked malt was used to replicate the smoky character that such historical beers were believed to have, since malt at the time was dried over peat or wood fires.”
The brew will be distributed in 22-ounce bombers and kegs within Stone’s distribution footprint. Knights who go “neet” not included.
