Lake of the Woods Brewing Company lowers its new "Deep 6" brew 20 feet under water where it well age for six months over winter A new beer may make traditional brewmasters shiver in their boots when they discover its new experimental aging process.
Inspired by a conversation about a South African brewery that submerged their beer to the bottom of the ocean, Rod Dokuchie, the director of marketing for Lake of the Woods Brewing, dropped a test batch of about 24 bottles off his dock to be retrieved months later when the winter ice had receded.The initial test batch was a success so the brewery followed it up the following year with a 1,000 bottles of a Russian Imperial Stout. It sold out in less than three days.
Data on aged submerged beer and what it accomplishes is limited, according to Dokuchie, because not many people are doing it. Despite not knowing the science behind the cold water beer, the results were easily tested. With last year’s stout, some bottles were kept out of the water for comparison testing.
The crates are lowered into the water with the help of a barge and a diver. The reverse is done to retrieve the beers in the spring.