Brewed from the Heart.
I cannot promise how long Lickinghole Creek will remain open, but I can promise the barrel aged beers produced while we are open will be worthy of cellaring and treasuring for years to come. I hope you enjoy Aurelian Reserve. I believe it is one of our best.
When my health changed, Farris and I had a choice. We could sell what we had built, or we could close it. Farris, my kids' godfather and busines partner, started the brewery together, built it with our own hands from the ground up, and put into reality our vision that became the foundation of Lickinghole Creek.
Stepping away and shifting to mass production seemed to always result in the heart and soul of the brewery being lost in translation. So we could sell the name and recipes and farm, or return to our roots at a size and scope my health can tolerate, which is small batch and specialty made by hand for our loyalist customers to have Lickinghole Creek back in their cellars.
Selling may have been the easier decision, but we could not stomach the thought of watching Lickinghole Creek become another name used to fill mass-production orders, and the land turned to development. We founded this brewery to make exceptional beer rooted in this farm. We would rather close than see beer bearing our name lose its character, its integrity, and its soul.
We walked away from the money and held on to what mattered: the land, the water, the craft, and the right to decide what the Lickinghole Creek name would stand for.
We also fought for the right to continue brewing with pure water drawn from our deep aquifers. We accepted a limit of only 60 open days each year so that we could protect the water at the heart of our beer—water that has not been chlorinated by a municipal system or stripped of the natural mineral character that makes our beer unique to this place.
That water is part of our terroir. So are the grain, the barrels, the native meadows, the wildlife, the sunflowers, and the community that has stood beside us. You cannot separate the beer from the farm and still call it Lickinghole Creek.
Now Farris and I are brewing together again. There are no production shifts, no assembly lines, and no plans for mass distribution. Aurelian Reserve is truly handcrafted by the founders, at a human pace, here on the farm where I live.
We began with the finest grain, took no shortcuts, and aged this Belgian-style Golden Strong Ale in Buffalo Trace Bourbon Barrels. At 13.6% ABV, it is powerful without being hot, smooth without being simple, and complex without losing its balance. It can be enjoyed now or cellared, allowing its character to deepen and evolve over time.
The price reflects what this beer truly costs to make: exceptional ingredients, rare barrels, limited production, years of knowledge, and time that cannot be hurried. It also helps us preserve this farm as an oasis of peace and wildness in a landscape rapidly being lost to development. It supports our native meadows, our wildlife habitat, and the fields of sunflowers we grow as a gift to the community.
We chose craft over scale. Conservation over development. Pure well water over convenience. The soul of the brewery over the value of its name.
We do not know how long we will be able to continue. We only know that while we are here, we will do this honestly.
Our hearts and souls are in every bottle.
AURELIAN RESERVE Vintage 2026 Belgian-Style Golden Strong Ale Aged in Buffalo Trace Bourbon Barrels 13.6% ABV
Truly handcrafted by founders Farris and Lisa at Lickinghole Creek Farm Brewery.
The first 250 bottles will be available to reserve with prepurchase tonight at 7pm online, and the rest of the 550 bottles will be available Saturday, August 15, 2026 at noon.