Vintage Beer Packs for The Beer Enthusiast

Anytime is a good time for the gift of beer! Treat yourself or the beer lover in your life with these one-of-a-kind vintage beer packs and enjoy the deep sense of pride that comes along with owning these rare finds. Each selection is carefully curated by the Cicerone team here at The Raleigh Times with labels designed to speak to the history and aroma of each selection and packaging stamped with our signature Raleigh Times logo. They make a great gift and bring joy to your beer loving heart!

Packs available:

Abbey/Trappist 6 Pack

Schneider Weisse 3 Pack

New Belgium 3 Pack

Brooklyn Bomber 6 Pack (Only 3 available!)

Brooklyn Bomber 4 Pack

Due to the rare nature of these vintage beauties, our stock is LIMITED. Please order by clicking the "order online" link above, emailing ciara@raleightimesbar.com or calling (919) 833-0999 and asking for the Manager on Duty. 

Learn more about the history and flavors that impact each of our selections below. 

ABBEY/TRAPPIST 6 PACK - $45.00 (11.2oz [330ml] btls)

Chimay Blue - Grande Réserve was first launched in 1948 as a Christmas ale under the name “Blue Cap.” It’s success and reputation as a strong ale of the highest quality led to it’s year-round production as Chimay Grande Réserve. Today it is the standard bearer of the Chimay range and has become notorious for its amazing cellaring ability. A beer cellar on the grounds of the abbey secures a vast selection of Chimay Blue bottles whose ages span a multitude of decades. The beer is remarkably dry for the style and the hint of sweetness is derived purely from the highest quality of malts. Flavors of dates, fig and pear are complimented by aromas of dark bread, with a touch of rose. As the beer ages it maintains its elegance while taking on flavors or sherry and tobacco. 9.0% ABV

St Bernardus Prior 8 - A traditional abbey beer, brewed in the classic dubbel style. The original recipe dates back to the times when they still brewed under license for the monks of Westvleteren. This delicious beer is chestnut brown, emitting a deep red glow and presenting a lovely, rounded head. 8% abv

St. Bernardus Abt 12 - Widely regarded as one of the best beers in the world. It is therefore no surprise that it is the brewery’s flagship beer, ranked at the very top of the St. Bernardus beer hierarchy. It is brewed in the classic quadrupel style and adheres to the original 1946 recipe. This is a dark beer with a robust head that is ivory in color 10% abv

Westmalle Tripel - In 1934, the successful opening of the new Westmalle brewery was celebrated with a ground-breaking new ‘super beer’, brewed on the very same premises. Widely acknowledged as the first 'tripel' in the world, it was based on a recipe by Henri Vanderlinden, master-brewer of nearby Witkap in Brasschaat. Westmalle Tripel is a high fermentation beer with in-bottle re-fermentation. This beer is brewed with barley malts, hops, sugar, yeast, and water. Its deeply golden-yellow color brings to mind the vivacity of autumn colors. 9.5% abv

Westmalle Dubbel - It was Prior Alexius who, at the start of the 19th-century, decided to motivate the Westmalle brothers with his so-called 'liquid sandwiches'. Every single morning, he would offer breakfast accompanied by two glasses of beer and this was how beer became part of the menu for Westmalle's monks. At the time of its creation, it was instantly known as the heaviest beer in Belgium – and again Westmalle became a point of reference for this particular beer-style. The phrase ‘dubbel’ was initially used to imply the much larger amount of ingredients being used. Nowadays, a Dubbel is considered a heavy, dark beer which can be either sweet or bitter. A high fermentation beer that re-ferments both in the bottle and in the barrel. The Westmalle Dubbel is brewed with barley malt, sugar, hops, yeast, and water. A deep reddish-brown color, showing up clear in the glass, under a covering of a nicely-dense collar of froth, which has the color of café crème. 7% abv

Orval - The distinctive fruity and bitter taste of Orval beer means it has become a genuine reference in the exclusive world of authentic Trappist beers. Orval beer is a high fermentation beer. The ageing process adds a fruity note, which strikes a subtle balance between the beer’s full-bodied yet complex flavour and bitterness. The beer was first brewed in 1931 and owes its unparalleled taste to the quality of the water, the hops and the yeast used. The brewery has selected very aromatic and unique hop varieties, which hark back to the first brewmaster of Orval, who hailed from Bavaria. The beer’s aromas are very pronounced while maintaining the right level of bitterness thanks to the English method of dry hopping. The various stages of fermentation – combined fermentation with the original yeast and with wild yeast, followed by fermentation in the bottle – mean the beer must age for some time and requires numerous quality controls. 6.9% abv

SCHNEIDER WEISSE 3 PACK - $50.00

Aventinus (500ml Btl) - wholehearted, dark ruby colored wheat beer, intensive and fiery, warming, well-balanced and tender. Bavaria's oldest wheat "Doppelbock" - brewed since 1907! Its sturdy body in combination with its sweet malty aroma is an invitation to profound indulgence - an ingenious blend with a strong body. 8.2% abv

Cuvee Barrique (750ml btl) - The incomparable pleasantly sour wheat beer specialty, matured for several months in oak barrels, this cuvée of TAP6 Unser Aventinus and Aventinus Eisbock offers new dimensions for pioneers of enjoyment: dry, with a nutty, smoky character, on your palate a wonderful balance of elegantly toasting flavour combined with toffee and paired with tart berry-like sour notes. (NO LONGER BREWED) 9.5% abv

Cuvee Barrique (375ml btl) – The same as the big bottle but this one you don’t have to share. (NO LONGER BREWED) 9.5% abv

NEW BELGIUM 3 PACK - $65.00 (22oz btl)

2015 New Belgium Le Terroir  - One of America’s finest sour ales, its release as part of the Colorado brewery’s “Lips of Faith” series. This beer is always highly anticipated by lovers of tart beers. Le Terroir is based on the brewery’s lightly sour ale known as Felix, which is aged for three years in foeders then dry-hopped to balance the sourness. Each year, the brewery changes the hop combination used. For 2015 New Belgium swapped Citra hops for Galaxy! 7.5% abv 

2016 New Belgium Le Terrior – This year was hopped with Amarillo and Crystal hops. See if you can taste the difference. 7.5% abv

2014 New Belgium Transatlantique Kreik - Produced once a year since 2003, Transatlantique Kriek is a literal transcontinental collaboration. It begins its life in the oaken vessels of Gert Christiaens’ Oud Beersel, a 130-year-old lambic brewery in the Zenne valley of Belgium. After the lambic ages there, it is blended with tart Polish cherries and shipped across the Atlantic to New Belgium. There they blend in an equal portion of our golden sour ale, which is aged for up to three years in our oak foeders. 6.5% abv

BROOKLYN BOMBER 6 PACK - $160.00 (750ml [25oz] btls)

(Only 3 available, and 4 of these beers are no longer brewed!)

2016 Tripel Burner - An experimental brew, it is inspired by traditional Chinese medicine, Brooklyn’s brewmaster Garrett Oliver first brewed a traditional Belgian-style triple before adding Perle & Aurora hops, liquorice root & then racking into white wine barrels for added complexity. This is a wild, spice-forward ale that would be a perfect match with strong cheeses. 10.6% ABV

2014 Wild Streak - There was a time when all beers were aged in wood, and yeasts ran wild and cavorted together. Modern brewing is wonderful, of course, but sometimes a little cavorting is a fine thing. Brooklyn Wild Streak starts off as a Belgian-inspired golden ale. After fermentation and a brief conditioning, they then age the beer for several months in second-use bourbon barrels, giving it a soft, round character infused with nicely balanced oak flavors. Finally, they bottle the beer flat and re-ferment it with blend of priming sugar, Champagne yeast and the wild yeast strain Brettanomyces. As the two yeasts do their cavorting, the beer gains its natural carbonation. The “Brett” takes many months to do its thing during bottle aging, but once it does, Wild Streak is enlivened by a wonderfully complex earthy funk. 10.00% abv (NO LONGER BREWED)

2014 Hand & Seal - Once the exclusive drink of British nobility, this barleywine-style ale has been carefully aged in casks of Bourbon oak to add an American touch to this classic style. Robust, complex, and generous all at once. 13.3% abv (NO LONGER BREWED)

2014-2016 Black Ops - This vintage of Black Ops Imperial Stout was aged in Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon barrels to call forth big chocolate and coffee notes and a rich, mellow underpinning of vanilla-like oak. 12.4% abv

2017 Cloaking Device – Brooklyn brewed a strong Brett-fermented porter and aged it for nine months in French oak red wine barrels, resulting in a full-flavored beer with a beautifully dry finish that will demonstrate Cloaking Device’s true power: the element of surprise. 10.5% abv (NO LONGER BREWED)

2015 K is for Kriek - When Brooklyn’s brewmaster first visited Belgium in 1984, he learned that “K” is for “Kriek”. “Kriek” means “cherry” in Belgian Flanders, where for centuries Kriek beers have been made by adding cherries to lambics and other sour beers. Brooklyn, based their distinctly American take on Kriek on their dark abbey ale, the estimable Local 2. To this beer’s subtle marriage of malts, dark candi sugar, local wildflower honey and zing of orange peel, they added tart dried whole Montmorency cherries from Michigan. They then aged everything in charred American bourbon Oaks. When the beer emerged with a glowing red color, vibrant acidity, complex fruit aromatics, and a foundation of oak flavors, its abv topped 10%. Its transformation almost complete, the beer joined priming sugar, Champagne yeast and wild Brettanomyces yeasts in the bottle and underwent a third fermentation. K is for Kriek is dry, fruity, tart, full-bodied, and expansive, able to be enjoyed now or after years of cellaring. 11% abv (NO LONGER BREWED)

BROOKLYN BOMBER 4 PACK - $100.00 (750ml [25oz] btls)

2014 Hand & Seal - Once the exclusive drink of British nobility, this barleywine-style ale has been carefully aged in casks of Bourbon oak to add an American touch to this classic style. Robust, complex, and generous all at once. 13.3% abv (NO LONGER BREWED)

2014-2016 Black Ops - This vintage of Black Ops Imperial Stout was aged in Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon barrels to call forth big chocolate and coffee notes and a rich, mellow underpinning of vanilla-like oak. 12.4% abv

2017 Cloaking Device – Brooklyn brewed a strong Brett-fermented porter and aged it for nine months in French oak red wine barrels, resulting in a full-flavored beer with a beautifully dry finish that will demonstrate Cloaking Device’s true power: the element of surprise. 10.5% abv (NO LONGER BREWED)

2015 K is for Kriek - When Brooklyn’s brewmaster first visited Belgium in 1984, he learned that “K” is for “Kriek”. “Kriek” means “cherry” in Belgian Flanders, where for centuries Kriek beers have been made by adding cherries to lambics and other sour beers. Brooklyn, based their distinctly American take on Kriek on their dark abbey ale, the estimable Local 2. To this beer’s subtle marriage of malts, dark candi sugar, local wildflower honey and zing of orange peel, they added tart dried whole Montmorency cherries from Michigan. They then aged everything in charred American bourbon Oaks. When the beer emerged with a glowing red color, vibrant acidity, complex fruit aromatics, and a foundation of oak flavors, its abv topped 10%. Its transformation almost complete, the beer joined priming sugar, Champagne yeast and wild Brettanomyces yeasts in the bottle and underwent a third fermentation. K is for Kriek is dry, fruity, tart, full-bodied, and expansive, able to be enjoyed now or after years of cellaring. 11% abv (NO LONGER BREWED)