In beer, there are always a few examples that completely transcend a style. For barrel-aged barleywines, Wooden Hell by Flossmoor Station is one of those beers. While most of the #newmoney generation in craft beer today has never heard of the Flossmoor Station or even the beer Wooden Hell, this beer ruled the barleywine world alongside beers like “M” from Midnight Sun in the mid 2000’s. Wooden Hell took home the bronze at the 2006 Great American Beer Festival (GABF) and gold at both the 2006 and 2007 Festival of Wood and Barrel Aged Beer (FoBAB). On top of all that, Flossmoor Station took home the 2006 Small Brewpub of the Year at GABF.
So what happened? Why haven’t a large number of neckbeards heard of Wooden Hell? With an important milestone approaching this summer, Flossmoor’s 20th anniversary, could we finally see the return of Wooden Hell? I sat down with owner and founder Dean Armstrong to discuss all of this and more.
Paste: What was the inspiration behind Wooden Hell?
Dean Armstrong: It all goes back to our philosophy. You take the best ingredients and equipment you can get, and pair that with a creative brewer. The goal was always to put together the best quality beer we could; the profits always came second. I like to compare it to a car show. You want to put together the best and most unique car out there. Cost is always secondary.
Paste: It’s been eight years since the release of Wooden Hell. Why has it been this long?
DA: There are some things that are so special when they’re made, that you know you really don’t want to duplicate them. For us, Wooden Hell was one of those beers. Right off the bat after it was brewed, we knew it was special.
Paste: Have you opened any of the original bottles recently?
DA: Nope, we have had them over the years, but we really have no more at the time. I see them being resold online for ridiculous prices.