New American Single Malts finished in The Bruery Black Tuesday stout barrels and Revolution Brewing Straight Jacket barleywine barrels bring two very different beer-driven profiles to Virginia Distillery Co.’s limited-edition series.
Part of the Bourbon Bishop Virginia Craft Whiskey Starter Trail
This distillery is featured on my Bourbon Bishop Virginia Craft Whiskey Starter Trail in the Virginia Spirits Trail app, a curated way to explore some of the Commonwealth’s craft distilleries.
LOVINGSTON, VIRGINIA — September 1, 2026 — Virginia Distillery Co. is expanding its Brewer’s Coalition series this September with two new limited-edition American Single Malt whiskies, each finished in barrels from one of the craft beer world’s most recognizable breweries.
The new releases — The Bruery Black Tuesday Stout Cask Finish American Single Malt and Revolution Brewing Straight Jacket Barleywine Ale Cask Finish American Single Malt — start with the same basic foundation: Virginia Distillery Co. American Single Malt aged for more than five years in premium ex-bourbon barrels.
From there, the two whiskies take very different paths.
That contrast is the real story behind this release. Rather than simply adding another beer-barrel finish to the lineup, Virginia Distillery Co. is using two highly distinctive beers to demonstrate just how dramatically a finishing cask can reshape American Single Malt.
The Brewer’s Coalition Continues To Push American Single Malt In New Directions
The Brewer’s Coalition is Virginia Distillery Co.’s limited-edition series built around collaborations with breweries across the country. The concept gives the distillery another way to explore what American Single Malt can become while connecting whisky drinkers with some of the most interesting corners of American craft brewing.
“Releasing two expressions at once lets people taste just how much the barrel shapes the whisky — the same single malt, aged over five years in ex-bourbon, taken in two completely different directions,” said Gareth Moore, CEO of Virginia Distillery Co.
That makes these releases particularly interesting as a side-by-side tasting. The underlying whisky provides a common reference point, while the beer casks become the variable.
And this isn’t a collaboration where the beer barrels are simply a footnote on the label. Both Straight Jacket and Black Tuesday have strong identities of their own, giving the finishing barrels plenty of character to contribute.
The Bruery Black Tuesday Stout Cask Finish
The Bruery’s Black Tuesday is a bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout known for its rich, decadent profile. Virginia Distillery Co. took its American Single Malt, aged for more than five years in ex-bourbon barrels, and finished it in barrels that previously held the celebrated stout.
The result is bottled at 100 proof (50% ABV), with Virginia Distillery Co. describing aromas of blackberry jam and caramel alongside flavors of soft citrus, chocolate and hints of anise. The distillery characterizes the finish as velvety, complex and enduring.
The collaboration also runs in both directions. The Bruery has previously released Black Tuesday aged in Virginia Distillery Co. barrels, creating a sort of barrel-to-barrel exchange between the two producers.
“Black Tuesday has always been a beer that lets the barrel speak,” said Barry Holmes, CEO of The Bruery. “Virginia Distillery Company’s reputation for excellence in American Single Malt made them an ideal partner for this collaboration.”
That reciprocal relationship gives the release a little more substance than a simple cask-finishing arrangement. Each producer is effectively getting an opportunity to see what its barrels can do in the other category.
Gareth Moore, CEO of Virginia Distillery Co““Releasing two expressions at once lets people taste just how much the barrel shapes the whisky — the same single malt, aged over five years in ex-bourbon, taken in two completely different directions.”
Revolution Brewing Straight Jacket Barleywine Ale Cask Finish
The second release heads in a very different direction.
Virginia Distillery Co. finished its American Single Malt in barrels that previously held Straight Jacket, Revolution Brewing’s barrel-aged barleywine from its Deep Wood Series.
The whisky is again bottled at 100 proof (50% ABV) after spending more than five years in premium ex-bourbon barrels before its finishing period.
The tasting profile moves away from the darker chocolate-and-fruit character of Black Tuesday. Virginia Distillery Co. notes aromas of oat scones and apricot, followed by maple syrup and fresh-cut ginger on the palate. The finish is described as rich, warming and delicately spiced.
For the collaboration, Revolution Brewing sent six freshly dumped Straight Jacket barrels to Virginia Distillery Co. to be filled with American Single Malt for finishing.
And the partnership isn’t stopping there.
The two companies plan to continue working together in 2027, when Virginia Distillery Co. will send American Single Malt barrels to Revolution Brewing for a special Twenty Ten Collection variant featuring Straight Jacket and supplemental French oak.
“….the kind of collaboration I find more interesting than a release that simply puts a recognizable brewery name on the label.“
Why This Matters
American Single Malt is still defining itself in the eyes of many American whiskey drinkers. That makes projects like The Brewer’s Coalition worth paying attention to.
Virginia Distillery Co. isn’t trying to make American Single Malt taste like bourbon, Scotch or beer. Instead, the distillery is exploring what happens when a distinctly American single malt foundation is given another set of tools to work with.
The particularly interesting part here is the pairing of two very different beer styles with the same underlying whisky.
Black Tuesday brings the possibility of dark chocolate, rich fruit and barrel-driven stout character. Straight Jacket brings barleywine’s malt, dried-fruit, maple and spice profile. Tasting them side by side should give drinkers a much clearer picture of what the finishing barrel contributes than either bottle could provide on its own.
It also illustrates why American Single Malt has so much room to experiment. With a category that is still establishing its identity, collaborations like these aren’t just novelty releases. They’re opportunities to explore what the category can do.
Bourbon Bishop Bottom Line:
The most compelling thing about these releases isn’t simply that Virginia Distillery Co. finished whisky in famous beer barrels. We’ve seen plenty of beer-barrel finishes by now.
It’s the comparison.
Put two whiskies built from the same American Single Malt foundation next to each other, finish them in two radically different beer barrels, and you’ve got a pretty good experiment in cask influence. That’s the kind of collaboration I find more interesting than a release that simply puts a recognizable brewery name on the label.
If you can find both, I’d taste them together. Black Tuesday and Straight Jacket should make for a particularly interesting look at how much personality can come from the barrel after the whisky has already spent more than five years aging.
About Virginia Distillery Co.
Virginia Distillery Co. is an American Single Malt distillery located in Lovingston, Virginia, founded by George G. Moore with a vision of creating world-class American whisky inspired by the traditions of the Old World while embracing the possibilities of American production. Today, the distillery is operated by George’s wife, Angela, and son, Gareth Moore.
The distillery is best known for Courage & Conviction, its flagship American Single Malt, along with a broader range of American Single Malts featuring cask finishes drawn from both Old and New World traditions. Its work frequently explores the influence of different maturation and finishing casks, making experimentation and innovation central to the Virginia Distillery Co. approach.
Through projects such as The Brewer’s Coalition, Virginia Distillery Co. has expanded that experimentation into collaborations with breweries around the country, using distinctive beer barrels to explore new expressions of American Single Malt while building connections between American whisky and craft brewing.
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