ASTORIA, OREGON – Buoy Beer Company released its fifth vintage of their Love, Lost at Sea barrel-aged barleywine on February 14th. Strong and complex, this vintage is aged in Freeland Spirits bourbon barrels for 10 months to give it a smooth, sweetly toasted flavor.
A piquant and distinctive malt character rounds out the profile using a dense grist of British pale, British Crystal, and Chocolate malts, all balanced by a healthy dose of Oregon hops. This warm, harmonious ale shines a light on the tangle of love gone adrift.
“It’s hard to believe we’re on year five with this barleywine,” says Toby Armstrong, Lead Brewer. “We’ve seen a lot of change in the brewery since our first release of Love, Lost at Sea. Lots of folks have come and gone, the brewery itself has undergone multiple expansions, and very little looks the same around here — but this beer has remained, in many ways, unchanged. While the older vintages have mellowed out, this year’s Love, Lost at Sea has a toasty, drying character like cavendish tobacco. Hints of vanilla and graham cracker lurk in the backdrop. Like a fishing story, this is a beer that grows bigger and better with every retelling.”
Last weekend, lucky visitors to the Astoria Taproom enjoyed flights of each of the five Love, Lost at Sea vintages from 2018-2022. Bottles stored for 1-5 years will be cracked open and poured into Spey whisky drams to savor and compare how the barleywine has changed and evolved through the years.
“After years of stashing away cases of Love, Lost at Sea, I’m excited to share the development of this beer and this series,” says Jessyka Dart-Mclean, Marketing Manager. “It begins as the same ale every year, then is put into bourbon barrels from varying distilleries. To have a range of years aged in bottles for this tasting event is a unique opportunity for those who haven’t been saving bottles in their personal stash since 2018.”
The label artwork for Love, Lost at Sea was created by Aaron Toledo. Originally from Kansas City, Aaron moved to Oregon in 2002 where he’s been tattooing at Keepsake Tattoo Studio ever since. Aaron is inspired by the ocean, the woods, far reaches of the earth, and “crazy-ass people,” which is probably why he’s tattooed so many around Astoria. Buoy Beer Company will continue to feature tattoo artists on the labels of its Love, Lost at Sea series as it continues.
Love, Lost at Sea 2022 will be available in refillable 500ml bottles distributed in Oregon & Washington.
About Buoy Beer Company
Astoria, OR overlooks the meeting of one of the West’s most relentless rivers and the wilderness of an entire ocean – and it’s here that Buoy Beer Company brews its beer. With balance always a priority, we focus on traditional lagers and NW ales to savor and share with friends after a hard day’s work.
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