Budweiser and Jim Beam Bourbon teamed up to make a new Budweiser Reserve Black Lager

Budweiser and Jim Beam Bourbon are teaming up for the second time to create a brand new lager, which celebrates the 86th anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition and their collective 365-year history of making beer and bourbon.

The new Budweiser Reserve Black Lager is a limited-supply brew with an ABV of 7.1%. Aged on six-year Jim Beam bourbon barrel staves for a bold taste, Budweiser says Black Lager is a dark auburn color and has an oaky aroma. It features coffee and chocolate notes, a toasted malt taste and a smooth finish.

“For the second collaboration between Bud and Beam, we wanted to brew something unique that would excite both beer lovers and bourbon aficionados,” Ricardo Marques, VP of marketing core and value brands at Anheuser-Busch, said in a press release. “Budweiser Reserve Black Lager is a bold, bourbon-forward beer that’s perfect for the holidays.”

Budweiser Reserve Black Lager will be on store shelves nationwide beginning in October. It will only be around until December or while supplies last, however, so make sure you try some before the holidays. You’ll find it in glass bottles and in a premium 22 oz. bomber bottle gift box.

As mentioned, this is actually the second time Budweiser and Jim Beam have collaborated. The two companies first produced Budweiser Reserve Copper Lager, which is also back right now due to popular demand. Copper Lager is brewed with two-row barley and also aged on Jim Beam bourbon barrel staves. It will be on store shelves until March 2020.

“The charred American oak staves, which previously served as barrels aging Jim Beam for four years, create a toasted oak aroma, while the beer has a deliciously nutty taste with caramel rye and vanilla notes and the classically smooth Budweiser finish,” Budweiser said in a press release about Reserve Copper Lager.

Did you know that beer collaborations are a thing? It’s become par for the course at many breweries. For smaller companies, it’s a chance for brewers to create community while learning from one another, according to VinePair. It also allows them to experiment and be creative.

However, Budweiser and Jim Beam’s team-up may be the first large-scale version of its kind. AdAge points out that the collaboration is good for both brands, breathing new life into Budweiser, which has been losing share to craft brewers and other liquors, and introducing Jim Beam to a new audience.

But their beers do face some competition from a few other brands trying out beer and spirits combinations. Constellation Brands’ Western Standard, another beer finished in bourbon barrels, was rolled out to select markets in 2018. A collaboration between Irish whiskey maker Tullamore D.E.W. and Scotland’s Innis & Gunn’s brewery resulted in the creation of Kindred Spirits, a Scottish stout aged using Irish whiskey barrels. It came out earlier this year.

Will you be trying the new Budweiser Reserve Black Lager or picking up some of last year’s collaboration, Budweiser Reserve Copper Lager?