Copperworks Distilling recently introduced its Hair of the Dog Brewing Cask Finished Collection at a special release party at one of Seattle’s top craft beer destinations, Brouwer’s Cafe.
Copperworks was actually founded by craft brewers Micah Nutt and Jason Parker (the first brewer back in 1989 at the renowned Pike Brewing Company). And the founders said that Copperworks’ whiskey distillery was first built to answer the question, “How would spirits taste if they were distilled from superior craft beer (without the hops) instead of the typical methods of ingredients of conventional distilleries?”
The answer led the team at Copperworks to pioneer the American Single Malt Whiskey category and earn the title of Distillery of the Year in 2018 from the American Distilling Institute.
Today, as the statement from Copperworks touted, they remain guided by their founding principle … “From great brewing comes great spirits.”
Hair of the Dog Brewing Cask Finished Collection
It was in early 2022, after nearly 30 years in business, that renowned Portland brewery Hair of the Dog announced it was closing.
In Seattle, Brouwer’s Nat Pellman, café manager and friend of Copperworks’ Jason Parker, heard that Hair of the Dog had casks available.
“I cast a wide net to see who was interested in using them and Jason responded that he wanted them for Copperworks,” Pellman said. “We were thrilled, as Brouwer’s is a beer-centric destination that has been a supporter of Hair of the Dog for many years and we’ve collaborated with Jason previously, so hosting the cask collection release event here at Brouwer’s is really a full circle moment.”
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Parker said that Hair of the Dog was known for creative, richly flavored brews and was barrel aging beers long before it was trendy.
“When we learned they were shutting down, we knew it was our first (and likely last) chance to acquire casks from this renowned pioneer in craft beer,” Parker said. “Considering our origins as brewers, we knew we couldn’t miss out on the opportunity.”
Jeff Kanof, co-owner and vice president of Copperworks Distilling, noted that this special cask collection celebrates the possibilities of flavor when craft brewing and distilling come together.
“It features two single-cask American Single Malt whiskeys and two cask-finished gins. Each product was finished in a cask previously used by Hair of the Dog Brewing.”
Copperworks received four casks to create this collection: two casks that previously aged Hair of the Dog’s “Matt” ale, and two casks that previously aged Hair of the Dog’s “Adam” ale.
The spirits in this collection were named after these beers, respectively.
The Copperworks founders and Pellman explained the origin stories from how those beers first earned their names.
Adam
“Adam” was the first beer produced by Hair of the Dog Founder Alan Sprints.
The name has two references: 1) a nod to Adam and Eve (first creation) and 2) a nod to Adambier, an old-world style of beer. The story goes that renowned beer writer Fred Eckhardt gave Sprints the ancient recipe for Dortmunder “adambier.” Thus, the name and the beer were born.
Matt
“Matt” was crafted for the tenth anniversary of craft beer shop Bottleworks in 2009 and named after two Matts– Bottleworks and Brouwer’s Owner Matt Vandenberghe and the late Matt Bonney (early employee of Bottleworks and well-known in the beer community.)
For this whiskey collection, both American Single Malts were crafted from a single variety of barley called Genie, grown on a single farm in Athena, Oregon. They matured for three years and three months in new American oak casks from Canton Cooperage with char #2 and 36-month seasoned staves prior to finishing in their respective Hair of the Dog casks.
A total of 179 bottles of Matt whiskey and 253 bottles of Adam whiskey were produced, and the whiskey clocks in at 100 proof. It has a suggested retail price of $89.99.
The Hair of the Dog Brewing Cask Finished Collection is available exclusively at Copperworks’ Seattle Distillery and Tasting Room and its online store.
For more information, check out https://store.copperworksdistilling.com/collections/spirits.
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