The Bruery made a surprise announcement this morning that threw everyone for a loop. They have teamed up with an unnamed ‘leading beverage industry partner’ who will be canning and distributing their infamous “Chocolate Rain” nationwide.

Says Benjamin Weiss, The Bruery’s Director of Marketing, “This was certainly never something we saw ourselves doing a couple of years ago, but it was an opportunity we simply could not pass up. Bringing Chocolate Rain to supermarkets, convenience stores and bars all over the country is a dream come true and doing it in cans was like a dream within that dream.”

Chocolate Rain is a 19.5% ABV bourbon barrel aged imperial stout with vanilla beans and cacao nibs added. Until this announcement, it has been available exclusively to The Bruery’s Reserve Society and even to this select group of dedicated fans, it has been in extremely limited quantity. “We’ll be taking production of Chocolate Rain off site,” continued Weiss, “as much as we’d like to brew everything by hand on our 15 barrel system, there is just no way we can support a growth of this magnitude with the equipment we currently have on hand.”

The Bruery has sent their lead brewer, Phil McDaniel, to watch over the production of Chocolate Rain and make certain that things are in line with The Bruery’s high standards. McDaniel will also be working with various distilleries in Kentucky to ensure that enough bourbon barrels are obtained to make this project work as planned.

“Canning a nearly 20% abv beer and putting it on shelves next to macro-brewed lagers is pretty much insane,” says Patrick Rue, founder and CEO of The Bruery, “but we are really excited for the challenge. Everyone loves this beer. It’s rich, chocolatey and boozy. There are few beers like it in the world and now people all over the world will be able to get their hands on it. I couldn’t be happier.”

Chocolate Rain will be sold in 6 packs, but the price has yet to be determined and will most likely vary from state to state due to the way laws work with the high alcohol content. Expect to see it hitting shelves by the end of the month in stores nationwide.