Hop Grail
Tough Love
- Barrel-Aged Stout
- 14% ABV
- Label approved Oct 19
Had it? My score
90 seek it out · 80 would buy again · 70 fine, wouldn't seek it · 60 disappointing · 40 flawed or drain pour
More from Crux Fermentation Project
See all
Crux Fermentation Project's Barrel-Aged Stout. Label approved 19 October 2026; not spotted yet.
Where to find it
We track beers, we don't sell them, so no stock promises. These are the searches we'd run for this one.
Readers' scores
Similar beers
More Stout
About this beer
This is the 10th of 11 labels we have from Crux Fermentation Project. It is one of 77 barrel-aged stout labels approved in October 2026. Its label was approved 10 days after it was submitted. The label carries barrel-aged on the front.
From the label“Imperial Stout brewed with blackstrap molasses, brewers licorice, vanilla beans & cherry bark, aged in Willett Kentucky bourbon barrels This year's Tough Love remains true to form. Banished to Kentucky Bourbon barrels under controlled conditions for nearly a year, rich overtones of dark roasted malt, oak-smoked wheat and malted rye give way to delicate notes of velvety chocolate, vanilla, oak and dried cherries. It was for their own good. Beers in this special series are banished for months in oak barrels, allowing flavors to mature, meld, and mellow. This beer contains live yeast — take it even further by storing in a dark place at 50°-60° F for one to three years.”
Brew it
A starting-point recipe from the style and the ABV on the label: derived, not tasted, and the sheet says which is which.
The bench sheetAsk Hop Grail:
Everything from Crux Fermentation Project is on their page.
Scan a can to find any beer like this one. Get the free iPhone app
Style: StoutBrewery: Crux Fermentation Project