Allagash Bourbon Black

Brewed by Allagash Brewing Company
Style: Foreign Stout
Portland, Maine USA

(Hand bottle, courtesy of Bman1113vr) Pours a brown body with a small beige head. Aroma of wood, roasted malt, vanilla, vinous, dark fruits, and Belgian yeast. Flavor of wood, yeast, bourbon, light roast, and some sourness.

On tap at Capones. Poured a dark black color with a smaller sized off white/tan head. Aromas of roastiness, woody, smoke, vanilla, and a trace (if any) of bourbon. Tastes of vanilla, woody/oak, dark fruits, roasty, chocolate, the same smokiness, and vanilla. If I wasn’t told this was done in a Bourbon Barrel, I would have just guessed Oak Aged.

Draft at EBF. Pours a black body with a tan head. Nice chocolate, vanilla, oak and some moderate bourbon with a big etoh bite. Some light roasted notes and fruity esters or etoh latent fruits. On a more interesting note Dany’s reviews crack me up. I have to send this guy some beer! What a character.
Earlier Rating: 3/1/2009 Total Score: 3.6
Draft at EBF. Pours a black body with a creamy tan head. Nice vinous bourbon body, actually its quite powerful in terms of etoh. Still i found it to be a bit thin and watery bourbon body. Malt bill was grainy and dry with some light oak in the finish. It was okay.

[Draft @ Capones] Poured an opaque black color with a small, tan head that left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of roasted malts, vanilla, light bourbon, dark fruits, and chocolate. Taste of cocoa, vanilla, smoke, roasted malts, some caramel malts, oaky bourbon, and some alcohol in the finish.

On tap at EBF, labeled as Bourbon Black (Allagash Black aged in Jim Beam Barrles). Pours a nice deep dark woody black with a thin head. Aroma is smooth with moderate amounts of wood, oak, sweet vanilla- and bourbon, good roasty and nutty chocolate notes- toned down earth and spicy Belgian character in the original batch. A bit more bourbon int eh flavor still not overwhelming, good toasty malts, light chocolate sweetness, some roast, light spice, smooth sweetness, and some oak to dry it out in the end. I think I liked this one quite a bit better than the regular Black.

12oz handbottle from hopdog, thanks so much Steve, I love Allagash and it never hurts to have one of their rarer special brews. Perfect beautifal pour, black with a 2 finger tan head. Nose is sweet, with some nice vanilla and a touch of bourbon. Taste is sweet, bourbony and very bitter, a little strange on the mouth. Interesting and glad i got to try it. Thanks Steve.

Hand bottle via a trade with hopdog, shared with the Dallas Crew. Pours with a tan head on top of a very dark brown body. Aroma of bourbon, wood, chocolate, vanilla, a slightly funky je ne sais quoi, earthiness, and alcohol. Taste is roast and bourbon, with chocolate notes and a woodsy element to it. Light, creamy carbonation.

In short: A chocolaty stout/Belgian crossover. Nice beer but no improvement over the regular Allagash Black
How: Tap at Boston Extreme Beer Fest 2009
The look: Black body topped by a large tan head
In long: Light-medium roastiness (regular Black feels more roasted). Body is fluffy and a with a lively carbonation just like the regular Black. Alcohol a little apparent (no the case with the regular Black). Sweet dark fruits just like with the regular Black but a little less chocolaty than the regular Black. Some vanilla here that is not in the regular Black. All in all this is a decent stout/belgian crossover but the bourbon barrels aging does not add anything worthwhile over the regular Black. If anything I prefer the regular Black. There was nothing wrong the original beer so why did they lock it in a barrel for 10 months? I know. It’s because it’s a Black. They wouldn’t do that to the Allagash White, would they? Scandalous.