From Cook Strait to Pōkeno Whisky | 2010–2025

The story of this barrel began with an experiment in 2009, when Epic Beer set out to recreate one of brewing history's great journeys: the long ocean voyage that India Pale Ales originally made from England to India.

The idea was simple. What would happen if we put our flagship Armageddon IPA into oak barrels and sent them to sea?

We started by filling two 20-litre oak barrels with Armageddon IPA and loading them aboard the Interislander ferries. Over the following weeks, those barrels crossed Cook Strait an incredible 128 times, experiencing the constant movement of the sea, just as the original IPAs would have experienced on their journey to India.

We even had a particularly enthusiastic Interislander employee who took the experiment a step further. For two weeks, the barrels were moved into the ferry's engine room, where the warmer temperatures were intended to simulate the tropical conditions beers would have encountered crossing the equator.

The resulting beer was unveiled at Beervana in 2009.

When the festival doors opened, something extraordinary happened. Virtually everyone who came through the entrance headed straight for the Epic stand. Nobody seemed interested in visiting any of the other breweries. Instead, the entire crowd converged on us, forming an enormous queue, all wanting to be among the first to taste our ocean-voyaged Armageddon IPA.

Looking out from behind the stand, it was almost embarrassing. There we were, with what seemed like the entire festival lining up in front of us, while the other brewery stands were practically deserted. We'd hoped people would be curious about our experiment, but we certainly hadn't expected to have the whole festival to ourselves.

It was one of those unforgettable moments in Epic's history, and an extraordinary success that gave us the confidence to take barrel-aged Armageddon IPA to the next level.

Inspired by that success, we decided to take the experiment further.

In 2010, we scaled the project up to a full production batch of barrel-aged Armageddon IPA, using brand-new, medium-toasted American oak barrels.

The fresh oak imparted an incredibly intense woody character to the beer, producing something quite unlike anything we had made before. The combination of Armageddon's huge hop character and the powerful flavours extracted from the American oak was anything but subtle.

One drinker famously described the experience as:

"It's like being hit in the face with a cricket bat."

It was big, bold and unapologetically Epic.

The beer went on to win a Gold Medal and the trophy for Best Barrel Aged Beer at the 2010 New Zealand Beer Awards.

The experiment had gone from two little barrels travelling back and forth across Cook Strait to producing New Zealand's best barrel-aged beer.

We subsequently produced a second batch of barrel-aged Armageddon IPA, returning to those same American oak barrels for another round of maturation.

One of those barrels was destined for a much longer journey.

Rather than emptying it with the others, I decided to keep one barrel and see what would happen if we allowed Armageddon IPA to age for a little longer.

A little longer turned into 15 years.

Over those years, the barrel followed Epic through various brewery and warehouse moves. It was shifted from one location to another, always kept aside, never forgotten and largely left undisturbed.

For approximately the final eight years, the barrel lived at the Epic Taproom in Auckland. Perched right at the top of the storage racking, it sat in one of the warmest parts of the building, not because of some carefully planned maturation programme, but simply because it was the place where we were least likely to have to move it again.

Below it, the taproom came to life. There were conversations, laughter, live bands, celebrations and thousands of people enjoying Epic beer. Through it all, the barrel quietly continued ageing, exposed to the changing temperatures of the seasons and the warmth of the building.

In 2024, after 14 years, we finally drew approximately 20 litres from the barrel for a special beer tasting.

What came out was extraordinary.

The Armageddon IPA had transformed almost beyond recognition. The original hop character had faded, while the influence of the oak had become incredibly intense. The beer had developed such powerful woody, bourbon-like flavours that it was difficult to believe this had once been Armageddon IPA.

The passing years had also taken their toll. A considerable amount of beer had disappeared through evaporation, the famous angel's share. After all those years, we ultimately recovered only around 45 litres of beer from the barrel.

It was a remarkable result from an experiment that had begun all those years earlier.

And now the barrel's story continues.

In 2025, after 15 years holding Epic Armageddon IPA, this American oak barrel found a new purpose at Pōkeno Whisky.

The wood had spent a decade and a half absorbing the character of one of New Zealand's most iconic IPAs, experiencing changing temperatures, years of maturation and the passage of time.

Now, instead of beer, it holds New Zealand single malt whisky.

What influence will 15 years of Armageddon IPA have on the whisky?

That's the exciting part of the experiment.

From 128 crossings of Cook Strait to 15 years of Armageddon IPA, this is an oak barrel with an extraordinary history.

Fifteen years of beer. A lifetime of character. A new chapter in whisky.

A Final Fun Fact

Epic Armageddon IPA, first released in 2008, went on to become one of New Zealand's most awarded IPAs, winning Gold medals and Best IPA trophies in New Zealand, Australia and Sweden.

By 2017, Armageddon had collected 11 Gold medals, while its five New Zealand Beer Awards trophies by 2016 had set a competition record at the time.

And the awards haven't stopped. In 2026, Armageddon collected yet another Gold medal at the New Zealand Beer Awards, 18 years after it was first released.

Among those achievements was the 2010 trophy for Best Barrel Aged Beer, awarded to the beer that inspired this barrel's extraordinary 15-year journey.

Not a bad pedigree for a whisky barrel.