Richard Simpson to Sling Sun King’s Ouija Heavy at CBC

On May 5, 2023, right before heading to CBC in Nashville, Maltster Richard Simpson stopped by Sun King Brewing in Indianapolis, Indiana.  

Accompanied by RahrBSG, Richard and the Sun King crew brewed a big malty beer that would go into barrels for two years. Called Ouija Heavy, the 7.8% ABV Scotch Ale is nearly ready for its appearance at CBC 2025. Here with all the grainy details behind the beer – including a unique malted barley never used before or since – please welcome Richard Simpson and Martin Inglis from Simpsons Malting. 

RahrBSG: Tell us about the genesis of Sun King Ouija Heavy … any recollections of the brew day? 

Richard Simpson: Yes, I remember it, every minute of it. It was fun. It was something we chatted about with Dave [Colt], Clay [Robinson], and Andrew [Hood] at Sun King for years. They had done this collaboration beer with my late brother Peter and one Chris German; it was called Total Germanation. And they had fun with it. So we talked about doing something, maybe in spirits. And when Indianapolis got announced for CBC 2025, I said ‘Hey, let’s do something a couple years beforehand so we could barrel age it. That could be fun.’

RahrBSG: Martin, you mentioned something about Sun King barley. What’s the story here? 

Martin Inglis, Content Marketing Specialist at Simpsons Malting: Near our maltings in Berwick, just 10 miles away, we have a field where we have 15 different barley varieties. A handful of them will be current market-leading barley varieties. As you go down the field, there are new up-and-coming varieties which are being studied for brewing and distilling. Previously, there was a variety coming through called Sun King from one of the plant breeders. The field was harvested, and that Sun King was micro-malted, a very small malting process here at our lab in Berwick. And that’s how Richard got a little bag to bring over for [Sun King Brewing].  

Richard: I told them, There’s a barley variety called Sun King. I will bring all the Sun King I have. I will make sure you get all of it to use in this brew. It’s quite unique, there’s not much of it about. In fact, I brought all of the Sun King malt with me in my luggage. Because that was all that was left. But I believe it will have a big impact. 

Martin: It should be noted that Sun King, the barley, did not get approved for brewing and distilling. It’s now officially defunct. So, this is probably the only beverage ever consumed with Sun King malted barley in it. Which is quite cool. [The barley] was perceived to not have the quality required for brewing and distilling, but we thought otherwise in the creation of this beer. 

Richard: This is part of a grand scheme to make everyone change their mind [laughing]. In addition to the malt, I sent over some Highland toffee, so this beer had a bit of Highland toffee. We had to break up the Highland toffee. That was the worst part of the day. But we had a great day and learned a lot. I poured the Sun King malt into the mill myself.  And we enjoyed some good Scotch whiskey and made Hot Worties (this is a hot toddy made with first runnings). 

RahrBSG: Any idea how the beer is coming along? Is Andrew Hood going to leave any for the rest of us?  

Richard: Last year before Vegas, we visited Indianapolis and tried some out of the barrel. It tasted great. I liked it. It was wonderful. Dave and Andrew were ridiculously generous with the words they said about the malt, and the Sun King malt, and Simpsons generally. I’m looking forward to trying it when they think it’s ready. I defer to them on that.

And now… A Word from Sun King Wood Cellar Manager Andrew Hood
“The beer has been aging in antique collection casks from Buffalo Trace with hints of caramel, chocolate, marzipan, and something called English toffee. 

What really stands out on this collaboration is the special malt Simpsons hand selected. They hand-picked and kilned a one-off Sun King blended malt and it’s simply magic. We are very much looking forward to sharing this beer with the world and can’t wait for everyone to try it.”  

RahrBSG: Cheers, and thank you all for the chat! We look forward to joining you for Ouija Heavy in Indianapolis!

Sun King Ouija Heavy – 7.8% ABV Scotch Ale
Featuring notes of chocolate, brown sugar, toffee, and caramel character with a light sweetness and subtle bitterness.