Alpine Beer Company Token Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Porter

Brewed by Alpine Beer Company (CA)
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
Alpine, California USA

Serve in Snifter

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Draft at the brewpub. Pours a dark chocolate brown color with mahogany edges and one finger beige head that quickly settles into a lasting ring.  Streak of lacing left behind. Sweet malty aroma with a well integrated barrel character.  Hints of spicy bourbon, dry oak and vanilla counted by dark chocolate, caramel and toast.  Some alcohol but not overly boozy. Medium bodied with lots of malt and bourbon sweetness. Again, barrel well integrated with bourbon sweetness without being hot. Also some subtle dry, toasted oak and vanilla flavor countered by a slightly smokey malt character.  Hints of chocolate, toffee and rye creating some nice balance but it’s a bit tame for my liking. 

On tap at Brouwer’s Big Wood. Pours a solid black with a tan ring of head. Aroma of roasted malts, vanilla, bourbon. Flavour is largely of roasted malts, light espresso, bourbon, vanilla, with a hint of dark fruits. Full bodied, rich and roasty.. Real nice.

Bottle 22fl.oz.

Clear dark brown colour with a average to large, frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, light beige head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, roasted, wood, alcohol - bourbon, rooten riped fruit. Flavour is moderate to heavy sweet and bitter with a long duration, tart dark berry, raisin. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. [20120202]

Pours very dark for a porter, thin head with good retention. Brown sugar and sour apple aroma. Light sour, chocolate, and apple.

(22oz bomber thanks to bu11zeye) clear ruby with fine tan bubbles. Nose of bourbon, butterscotch, vanilla, diacetyl and toffee. Taste is tart, cherry, weird, cranberries, infected.

750 ml bottle shared by Dan, who got it via my trade with dcschiller- thanks, guys! Pours a hazy dark brown with a small tan head. The aroma has milk sugar, creamy caramel, vanilla, brown sugar, toast, chocolate, and coffee- not bad but a little too creamy to be right. The flavor is clearly way off from infection- plums and grapes overwhelm roasted malts, brown sugar, and cream. Medium-bodied, with medium carbonation and a tart, creamy mouthfeel. There is a good beer here. Bummer.

Pours dark with little to no head. Aroma is sweet, berries. Flavor is berries, plums..... This beer is really infected.

22oz bomber. Pours a deep chocolate brown with a small off-white head that recedes to a small collar quickly. Aroma is nice and sweet with some cocoa powder, vanilla and caramel. There is some bourbon character well integrated in the nose. There is a faint sugar-coated cherry character in the nose but it’s subtle and actually pleasant. The taste doesn’t quite live up to the aroma as the tart cherries are a bit more prevalent. In fact, the nicest attributes of the aroma - chocolate malts, vanilla - are tough to find in the taste. The finish is a combination of roasty malts, tart cherries and bourbon. The mouthfeel is thinish with low carbonation. I knew the risk of this bottle going in but was still looking forward to trying it and I’m glad I did. This was nowhere close to a drainpour and I actually enjoyed some of the tartness. That said, it certainly doesn’t stand up to the better beers in the style.

Bottle opened by Scott, big thanks to him! Pour is dark brownish black with off white/tan head, scared of an infected quality but not a big carbonation so it seems uninfected. Aroma had notes of vanilla, bourbon, toffee, hints of roasted malt, touch of coffee and rich chocolate, slight acidity but more of a tannic oak barrel type. Taste has more of the acidity but again tastes more tannic/barrel related. Some nice vanilla and bourbon notes and slight chocolate, finishing fairly bitter and slightly dry.

22oz bottle thanks to bu11zeye- Pour is a dark brown with light tan head..Nose is malty ,wood and vanilla with hints of bourbon...Taste is toffee, wood,malts, vanilla, lactose..Palate is oily..Pretty sure then bottle was infected.