Kronos, the king of the Titanes and the God of time itself. He was the perfect fit for the annual strong (and usually dark) beer release at Helios Brewing. Here's a brief look back at the past iterations of this beastly brew, as we count down to the 2023 release on August 17.
The actual legend of Kronos and the tales of him trying to eat his kids, so they wouldn't overthrow him at a later date (eventually Zeus managed to achieve this) is all pretty...urm...interesting (read more about it here). But for the purpose of this blog, we'll stick to chatting about the Kronos we've all come to know and love here at Helios.
2018 - The first Kronos off the rank, a Big Breakfast Stout. This 11% debut was big in rich, roasty, luscious chocolate malts. Very easy drinking for the ABV, and looked upon by many as their favourite Kronos beer (so far).
2019 - A Dark Strong Ale, this edition of Kronos was also aged on port barrel oak chips to add even more flavour to the raisin and port wine like characters. Coming in at 11% like the 2018 version, the booze was a bit more evident until some age dialled it back a notch.
2020 - One for the coffee lovers! This Imperial Nitro Coffee Stout used a simple grist with complex results, layered coffee from our friends at Black Milk Coffee with additions hotside and post ferment. Mid palate biscuit, caramel, finishing with slightly over baked chocolate biscuit and warming higher alcohols. This was also the first Kronos to go into can.
2021 - One of the 'lighter' offerings coming in at 9.5%, was this Imperial American Porter version. Constructed in a not too dissimilar fashion to Cyclops other than a firm but not overly heavy hand of malted Chocolate Wheat and Chocolate Barley used at various stages during the Mash. Dry hopped with Loral, Chinook and Centennial to lend malt - hop complexity.
2022 - The first break away from being a dark beer. This White Stout was brewed to celebrate our 5th birthday year at Helios, and also for the GABS Beer Festival, where it even featured in their special edition can packs. Still very much a strong ale at 9% but layered with “Stout-Esque” if you will raw materials. With flaked Barley, Golden Naked Oats, Custom blended coffee beans, vanilla, lactose and cacao give all the flavour notes you could want from our once in a lifetime Kronos offering.
2023 - Now we reach this years version of Kronos...the biggest one yet...coming in at 12% ABV, we've returned to a classic big dark beer style, a Russian Imperial Stout. Complex layers of toasted and roasted malts deliver bountiful notes of ash, mocha, dates and burnt caramel, atop a velvety and luxurious mouthfeel. It’s assertive yet approachable. Unruly yet refined. Welcome to the dark side.
Kronos '23 will be available Thursday, August 17 from Helios and selected bottle shops. Cans are highly limited, as a large part of this batch of beer has gone to age on some barrels, and will reappear later this year. Just when you though this Kronos couldn't get any more interesting...
