The results of a five-year collaboration have finally revealed themselves in Berkshire Mountain Distillers'(BMD) release of the Craft Brewers Whiskey Project (CBWP) – a collective partnership which highlights a single-sourced craft brew from a dozen of the country's top brewers in the Northeast.
Produced by the region's first legal distillery since prohibition, each whiskey will be blended to 86 proof using BMD's proprietary historic spring water in Sheffield and packaged in custom bottles with brewer-designed labels.
Available now at the BMD tasting room, the first batch of Craft Brewers Whiskey was distilled from three popular Massachusetts-based brewers including UFO White Ale from Massachusetts Bay Brewing Co., Spencer Brewery's Trappist Ale and Big Elm Brewing's 413 Farmhouse Ale.
"Whiskey is like beer's older cousin: it's taken more time to mature but comes from the same stock. So when Berkshire Mountain Distillers came to us more than four years ago with this project, we knew it'd be a fun way to collaborate with a local distiller to see what our beer could turn into," said Dan Kenary, CEO and co-founder of Massachusetts Bay Brewing Co. "The resulting whiskey does not disappoint."
This limited collection of unique BMD spirits will be made available throughout 2021. Scheduled to be released in spring, a second set of three whiskeys will highlight Massachusetts-based brewers 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.
Whiskey releases in summer and fall will feature celebrated craft brewers across four states including Brewery Ommegang, Captain Lawrence Brewing, Smuttynose Brewing, Long Trail Brewing Company, Two Roads Brewing and Chatham Brewing.
Aged at the distillery since 2015, the whiskeys will be released in the order in which they were distilled. Being a limited collection, each whiskey will be sold in the BMD tasting room and then released to select stores and restaurants.