Berkshire Mountain Distillers Releases Three New Craft Beer Based Whiskeys

Berkshire Mountain Distillers continues with its “Craft Brewers Whiskey Project” this month as the distillery recently released three new whiskeys sourced from beer brewers Samuel Adams, Jack’s Abby, and Berkshire Brewing Company.

The five-year collaboration includes, in total, the distilling of a dozen different beers from a limited collection of Northeast craft brewers. Each addition is blended to 86 proof using Berkshire Mountain’s spring water and packaged in custom bottles with brewer-designed labels.

“We’ve dabbled in distilling beer before, originally with Samuel Adams, and received great feedback,” said Chris Weld, founder and proprietor of Berkshire Mountain Distillers, in a prepared statement. “The natural progression was to expand that project. Fortunately, there are a lot of amazing brewers in our region.”

He said there’s a lot in common between the craft beer and craft spirits worlds. “A lot of people who drink whiskey also love craft beer, so there’s a natural curiosity from those folks to see what a whiskey distilled from their favorite beer would taste like. We’re excited these whiskeys are finally ready to be enjoyed.”

The whiskeys will be sold in the Berkshire Mountain tasting room and then released to select stores throughout 2021. This whiskey release highlights a Boston lager from Samuel Adams, Berkshire Brewing Company’s Imperial Steel Rail Extra Pale Ale and Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers’ Smoke & Dagger Black Lager.

“Smoke & Dagger has long been a beer favorite of whiskey drinkers and it’s incredible to see it come full circle and become a Berkshire Mountain Distillers whiskey,” said Rob Day, senior director of marketing at Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers. “It’s been a long, patient wait, but you can certainly appreciate the reveal of this mystery.”

The first release of whiskeys in this series were distilled from beers brewed by Massachusetts Bay Brewing Co., Spencer Brewery and Big Elm Brewing. Later releases will highlight celebrated Brewery Ommegang, Captain Lawrence Brewing, Smuttynose Brewing, Long Trail Brewing Company, Two Roads Brewing and Chatham Brewing.