John & Brett's Baudoinia

In 1872, a French pharmacist published a pamphlet that introduced the world to an odd species of mold that had suddenly become an epidemic in his hometown. This mysterious black substance seemed to thrive especially well in spaces that were rich with airborne alcohol vapors, and soon the cultures of mold could be spotted clinging to almost every wall and barrel in the town’s distillery. When the same black mold appeared in the vicinity of several Canadian distilleries in 2011, a few members of Canada’s National Herbarium re-examined the pharmacist’s work and concluded that he had actually discovered an entirely new species. In his honor, the Canadian botanists elected to name the mold after the French pharmacist — his name was Antonin Baudoin. Baudoin’s hometown was Cognac, France.

Fast forward to present day and the mysterious Baudoinia mold that grew in the famed rickhouses of Cognac is now thriving in Goose Island’s barrel warehouse at the corner of Fulton and Wood streets in Chicago. Baudoinia mold can be spotted on the barrels stored on the lowest shelves in the warehouse. The similarly named beer has all the flavors one would expect from its famous cousin but with a much more prominent chocolate note and a deeper, smoother body. Baudoinia is a salute to a simple organism that likes bourbon even more than our brewers . . . maybe. Show Less