An Updated Look At Tavour & Its Release Of Anchorage Brewing’s “A Deal With The Devil” Beer

Washington State-based Tavour is a company that tries thousands of beers from small craft breweries, ultimately bringing you the gems you can’t get at the store. In turn, Tavour works directly with hundreds of independent breweries to curate craft beer gift boxes with one-of-a-kind selections. In turn with selections as diverse as the Vanilla Ice Cream Stout from Wild Leap Brew Co. in Georgia and the Juicy IPA from WeldWerks Brewing in Colorado, a Tavour purchase may be ideal for a Father’s Day gift offering. Or really any sort of gift-giving opportunity you may come across.

Last May on behalf of The Hype, I had the pleasure of doing Q&A with Megan Birch, Marketing Manager for Tavour. We discussed all facets of Tavour, including its existence as a beer influencer.

In speaking with Megan Birch from Tavour earlier this month, I learned that there is a devoted group of private beer collectors who travel the country for special, brewery-only releases. Often, this is the only way to secure these limited-edition brews, many with price tags of upwards of $50 for a single bottle. The whole culture of queuing up in line for hours before a beer release fuels a robust revenue stream for breweries. But now, with many states on travel lockdown and shelter-in-place orders that prevent even locals from turning out for highly-anticipated beer debuts, many craft breweries across the Statesare relying on online sales channels like web-based retailer Tavour to satisfy demand.

For well-established breweries like Anchorage Brewing, this signals a shift in how they serve their fans. Their highly sought-after, small-batch A Deal With The Devil (ADWTD) Barleywine has historically drawn massive crowds when the brewers release a new edition at the taproom — but reality came crashing down this spring. In light of COVID19, Anchorage announced, with a heavy heart, that they will postpone their on-site release party and push out this collector’s item exclusively through Tavour.

Instead of being up in arms about the change of plans, craft collectors from far-flung corners of the country are expressing gratitude for the expanded accessibility of this special edition. This year, no flights or crowds stand between them and this hot-ticket item. In fact, when Anchorage’s head brewer Gabe Fletcher shared the news on social media, that they were cancelling the April 1st taproom release “until all of this craziness goes away and we can get back to normal life,” fans sounded off. “At a time like this, we need this beer!!” one person wrote. “Looks like I will be glued to my Tavour app next week!” another said. And Anchorage Brewing listened to these comments.

For craft fans in-the-know, A Deal With The Devil is worth scouring the country to get — and paying top dollar for. The brewers age this galaxy-hopped Barleywine in top-shelf Woodford Reserve Double Oaked Bourbon Barrels. Then, they blend 24-month and 12-month-old ADWTD, as transferred into fresh barrels halfway through aging. The result is a sinfully smooth elixir that clocks in at a blush-inducing 17% ABV and earns a perfect score on BeerAdvocate, a user-based beer rating platform.

And for the new 2020 vintage, Anchorage packaged it in wax-dipped cans for the first and ONLY time EVER, making it even more rare. It’s also extremely small-batch, with a mere 178 cases produced. Apart from a small reserve that Anchorage stowed away in the brewery cellar, the entire batch is on its way to Tavour. Tavour will share A Deal With The Devil with their members next week, with a $50 price tag and a one can limit. More on all things Tavour can be found online at www.tavour.com.

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Tags: Anchorage Brewing, Beer, BeerAdvocate, Coronavirus, Craft Beer, Megan Birch, Tavour, Woodford Reserve

About the Author

Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."