Elevation Beer partners with Montanya Distillers for Horchata Imperial Porter

Montanya Distillers and Elevation Beer Co., two Colorado companies just over the Sawatch Range from one another in central Colorado, have suffused their unique flavors to create a new Horchata Imperial Porter called Montanya. This limited edition porter came to life after Elevation Beer aged its award-winning Señorita Porter in Montanya Distillers’ Oro Dark Rum barrels.

“One of the most fun things we get to do in this business is collaborate with other exceptional companies,” said Karen Hoskin, president and co-founder of Montanya Distillers. “After about three years, we no longer use our American White Oak barrels to age more rum, but they are perfectly primed to age a rich imperial porter at Elevation. These barrels have quite a Colorado lifecycle. We are really honored and excited that Elevation finds us worthy of this collaboration.”

The end result is Elevation Beer’s Montanya, a beer that pours a midnight black and has notes of dark rum, sweet milk and vanilla with a tingling spice and a smooth rum taste. Coming in at 11.5 percent ABV and 21 IBUs, this beer has a medium body and a balancing hop bitterness with Northern Brewer and Chinook hops. It goes great with bread pudding, jerk chicken or even chocolate fondue.

“The flavors that result from Montanya’s fresh rum barrels give new life to one of our favorite beers,” said Alexander ‘Xandy’ Bustamante, co-founder of Elevation Beer. “We’ve brewed Señorita for three years, but we really upped the game when we started using Montanya’s rum barrels. We were so pleased with the result that we felt it deserved Montanya’s name. Montanya means mountain in many languages, so the name is a great representation of where both companies do our work.”

Montanya Horchata Imperial Porter is available, while supplies last, in 750-mL bottles and on draft in Colorado. It will be available in Washington this April and in Texas and Arizona later this summer.