For the first time ever, our Sub Rosa series of tasting room-exclusive, experimental beers are available for your at-home consumption.

Tucked under our full-production brewhouse is a 15-barrel pilot system, which is a blank canvas for our brewers and the birthplace of the Sub Rosa series. Once shrouded in the secrecy of our tasting room, this year's Sub Rosa releases will be available in 4-packs of 16-oz cans. With the limited capacity of our pilot system, only 50 cases of each will be produced.

The beers selected for our Sub Rosa series are pitched in tandem with our Brewhouse Rarities at an annual mountain retreat. Only the most innovative and challenging concepts are chosen for Sub Rosa to allow our brewers to work with new ingredients, try new techniques and go outside of their comfort zone. This year's Sub Rosa series includes:

• Dark and Stormy Ale: March 11
• Lactose IPA: May 6
• Negroni IPA: June 17
• House Rules: July 29
• Apricot Sour: September 9
• Mustard IPA: October 21
• Smoked Sour Wheat: December 9

Our brewers love taking on a classic cocktail. With Dark and Stormy Ale, the idea is to get the ginger spice to play off the vanilla, cinnamon and oaky notes of the rum. This beer-cocktail hybrid was pitched by our tasting room lead Kyle Bolte, pictured above and interviewed below in all of his bearded glory.

For the uninitiated, what is a Dark and Stormy?
A traditional Dark 'N' Stormy, as trademarked by Goslings of Bermuda just after World War I, is comprised of spiced rum, ginger beer and lime on the rocks. While the cocktail is best enjoyed on a semi-deserted island with Scarlett Johansen, we brewed this beer to give you that taste of summer throughout the year. And you should never be shy about adding a floater of Kraken.

What made you pick the beer? 
Cocktail-inspired beers were starting to become popular in the market. We had already successfully brewed two in 2016 and I figured why not make a third? Plus, I love Dark and Stormy's.

How did you hone in on the ingredients to create such a unique flavor?
In meetings with Brewmaster Ben Clark, we spent a lot of time going through various rums, ginger beers and limes. It was tough, but we put in the research to determine the best pairings of these ingredients to make the perfect cocktail. Once we had the rum that we wanted to emulate, we broke down the flavor profile and got to work measuring out the perfect balance of vanilla, cinnamon and molasses.

Pick up your 4-pack of Dark and Stormy on Saturday, March 11.