MFS Brewing is celebrating Mardi Gras in 2026 with the release of a double barrel-aged version of its King Cake Stout that will help raise money for Alzheimer’s research.
The beer, ReSpec’d – King of Cakes, builds on the brewery’s Within Tolerances King Cake Milk Stout and comes in at 10% ABV. The barrel-aged pastry stout draws on king cake flavors through the use of cinnamon and vanilla, layered onto a higher-gravity base.
“This may be one of my favorite beers we’ve released,” Bryan Berretta, co-founder of MFS Brewing, told Memphis Beer Blog.
“This is the high-gravity, pastry stout version of the Within Tolerances King Cake Milk Stout. ReSpec’d is a little sweeter, a little boozier version of Within Tolerances, barrel aged and blended.”
ReSpec’d spent 12 months aging separately in barrels from Barrel King and Old Dominick before being blended together. The beer was conditioned on three different vanilla beans and three types of cinnamon, including Ugandan cinnamon sourced through Memphis Whistle.
The project was done in partnership with Bourbon BarrALZ, which supports Alzheimer’s research and awareness.
ReSpec’d is available on draft beginning Thursday, Feb. 19, at Memphis Filling Station, 206 GE Patterson Ave.
Bottles will be released at noon Saturday, with just 120 bottles produced.
Meanwhile, the lower-alcohol King Cake Milk Stout is already available on tap at MFS and the Flying Saucer in Cordova.