33 Bottles of Beer - Lunar Eclipse Limited Edition

As the weather turns here in Portland, my beer tastes start to run a bit darker. So I decided to create a small batch of beer-tasting books whose design is inspired by the barrel-aged stouts I crave as the weather cools. The cover is printed with black ink on top of black ink, with black staples. Black on black on black. 

I’m calling it the “Lunar Eclipse” edition, arriving as it does in concert with the last total lunar eclipse of 2015 (night of September 27 in the Western hemisphere).

Barrel Aging: Not Just for Beer

I aged the books in a barrel that previously held American whiskey, and more recently, beer from a Southeast Portland brewery. The books have been barrel-aging for about three months, and they have a surprisingly strong aroma that’s genuinely reminiscent of barrel-aged stout.

Secret Ingredient

Speaking of stout, there’s a little bit of a Bend brewery’s barrel-aged stout (2009 vintage) added to the ink on the cover.

Never Mind the Darkness

I’m hoping fans of 33 Beers will take the night of September 27 to reflect on the universe while drinking something dark with a friend. To that end, there are two books in each “stay fresh” envelope, and the glow-in-the dark label should help scribes to locate the books despite the absence of moonlight and presence of high-octane beer.

Only 500 packages were produced, and each is hand-sealed and individually numbered.