Levenbank Distillery, founded by the team at Loch Lomond Brewery, has joined forces with Yorkshire-based craft brewers Northern Monk on a new collaboration that explores the crossover between brewing and distilling.
Northern Monk’s Head Brewer and Co-Founder Brian Dickson recently travelled to Loch Lomond Brewery and Levenbank Distillery to brew an imperial stout that will form the base of three distinct products over the coming years. Part of the stout will be released fresh in keg and can formats for both the on- and-off-trade, with some of it also bottled for a three-part collection.
The rest will be matured in Oloroso casks and released as a barrel-aged version, while the same recipe will also be distilled and laid down as a single grain Scotch whisky, maturing in the same Oloroso casks for three to four years.
Speaking about the partnership, Levenbank Distillery’s Head Brewer/Distiller and Director Euan MacEachern said, “We are delighted to be partnering with Northern Monk on the first of our beer to whisky exploration projects. It marks the beginning of a wider initiative to explore the relationship between brewing and distilling through collaborations with leading craft brewers.”
He added, “Future collaborations will experiment with a range of styles, including Barley Wines, Doppelbocks, Imperial Reds, and Sour Beers, with the aim of demonstrating that the style of beer, or wash as it’s known in the whisky world, has a significant influence on the flavour of the whisky.”
Brian Dickson said, “At Northern Monk, we’ve always been passionate about pushing the boundaries of what beer can be, and this collaboration is a perfect example of that. Working with Levenbank/Loch Lomond Brewery to create an imperial stout designed to be drunk fresh as a beer, and also to be barrel-aged and used for whisky-making, is an incredible opportunity to explore the relationship between brewing and distilling.”
He added, “We can’t wait to see how the rich, bold flavours of the imperial stout evolve through the distillation and cask-ageing process into something truly special.”
The project aims to showcase how raw ingredients and brewing methods shape the character of whisky, beyond just the impact of the cask.