Getting Mauled At HighGrain!

Written By: The Gnarly Gnome
Photography: Provided

1/23/2026

You don’t need to say it out loud, I know. You love a good, bold, barrel-aged Imperial Stout. Even as trends have come, as craft beer shifts and evolves, it’s one of the things that holds steady. A TON of beer drinkers will always love the style, and there are plenty of breweries here in town that are making great examples of it.

One of those who’s clearly at the top of their game? HighGrain.

That’s right, it’s time for the 2026 release of Maul, and this one is sounding like it’s going to be epic.

The 2026 Maul Release Details

This year’s release encompasses four different variants of the stout, all aged for a year in bourbon barrels from Augusta Distillery. It should go without saying that in addition, they’ll also have some other fun stuff up their sleeves to make sure that the day is a little more than “just a beer release” – but we’ll get to that in just a moment, first – we gotta talk about these beers!

Brewer’s Select Maul

The first “variant” is the base version of this year’s Maul. Part of the fun of a beer like this is that every year’s version has a little bit of its own unique personality. As I mentioned before, this year’s is aged for a year in Augusta Bourbon Barrels, it’s the beer that everything else is built upon!

Very Vanilla Maul

Hand-peeled vanilla beans are a natural fit for a beer like this, a sweet note that brings out some of the wood character in an Imperial Stout. Vanilla is one of those fun adjuncts that, while it’s great when it’s fresh, sometimes mellows wonderfully with a little age on it, in my opinion!

Sticky S’Mores Maul

The base Maul meets chocolate, vanilla, graham cracker, and marshmallows in this variant. I’m curious to see how they rolled with this one. I’ve had some S’Mores stouts that lean very heavy into the adjuncts and some that use them as a little punctuation to the boozy character that is already there. HighGrain is definitely going to keep us guessing until the moment this one hits our lips, and I’m pretty excited to taste it!

Dubai Chocolate Maul

The latest chocolate trend hits Maul with this variant. Chocolate, pistachio, and vanilla combine into a decadent treat that you’re going to have a hard time resisting. Trendy doesn’t have to be a dirty word… and while this one certainly hits the trendy mark, it also has my ears perked up HIGH. Get. It. In. My. Mouth.

The Release Event

I’m going to start this with the obvious: keep your eyes on HighGrain’s Social Media. The Weather Is Threatening An Interesting Weekend – but this Saturday AND Sunday, the 24th and 25th of January, 2026 – they’re planning an epic release weekend in Silverton.

It all starts at 10 am on Saturday with a Maul brunch that will last until 2 pm. All the 2026 Mauls will be tapped, alongside your HighGrain favorites, and it’s a great time to get your chance to try them all.

At 2:30 on Saturday, they’ll be kicking off a brewer Q&A session that they’re dubbing “Barrel Talks” to give you a chance to dig in a little deeper into the magic that makes a beer like this one happen.

4 pm is when things start to get a little nerdy for a bit. They’re tapping Maul and more from 2022, 2023, and 2024. These vintage beers will show you a little bit of how aging a big stout like this can allow different characters to emerge from within, and it’s a great way to experience something that you can’t easily try anywhere else. They’ll be on tap until they’re gone!

On Sunday morning at 10, the Maul Brunch returns until 2 pm… if your schedule didn’t let you get there on Saturday, have no fear! They’re following it up with another ‘Barrel Talks’ Q&A session at 2:30 and then live music from Brad Lark at 4 pm.

It all goes down at their OG Silverton location – 6860 Plainfield Rd – and if you’re a fan of big beers… I mean… what else would you be doing?