Barley Johns The Dark Knight (Returns)

Brewed by Barley Johns Brew Pub
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
New Brighton, Minnesota USA

Serve in Shaker, Snifter

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Draft at Great Taste. One of my top list to try, but was quite underwhelmed. Poured a deep black with brown at the edges. Dissipating tan head. The nose was way boozy and over oaked. Too much barrel character, imo. On tasting, more of the same. The oak and bourbon barrel character just dominate. Coconut and cocoa, booze and a bit underbodied to boot. Clunker.

On tap at GTMW - One of the biggest disappointments for me at the festival. I’ve been wanting to try this for several years, and it just didn’t come through. Pours dark as night with a couple tan bubbles--pretty still. Smells a little hot, but with tons of sweet caramel. There’s a little roast to offset it, but the barrel aging brings it way over the top into cloying sweetness. Taste is a bit better, with more prominent roast, but it’s still really sweet, with caramel, vanilla, and the bourbon aging present. Smooth and slick, but very little carbonation.

Way too heavy and strong of alcohol. Also prominent bourbon whiskey flavor...so aroma and flavor is alcohol and whiskey...not a fan. Got slightly better as it warmed but not much.

Sampled bottled at Man Land, Portland
Dark mahogany, no head, small lacing. Nose of bourbon and….bourbon. The flavor is smoky with more vanilla and bourbon. Not much beer left in this.

Hand bottle courtesy of Stine: Poured a pitch-black color porter with a small dirty brown foamy head. Aroma of bourbon is quite overpowering with some sweet malt notes also noticeable. Taste is overpowered by bourbon and I had a hard time picking-up other flavour. Body is quite full with alcohol from the barrel really coming out. I was a bit surprised as I was not expecting so much bourbon to come out in such fashion and I am probably not the biggest bourbon fan around.

Growler generously shared by ygtbsm. Thanks again Brad! Pours a viscous dark brown that appears almost pitch black in the glass with a one finger mocha head that settles into a thin ring. Spotty lacing left behind but this beer has amazing legs. Sweet boozy aroma with lots of dark malt, sweet bourbon, earthy oak, chocolate, toffee and oatmeal. The malt aromas are evident but are overpowered by the strong bourbon character. Viscous body with lots of boozy heat and bourbon flavor. Way too hot with lots of burning alcohol that overpowers the other flavors and tons of warmth/burning in the finish. Underneath the strong barrel/spirit presence there is some chocolate, toffee and toast. Way too much bourbon and alcohol sweetness resulting in a one dimensional beer that isn’t very interesting. Thick and viscous mouthfeel helps things a bit but there is no depth or complexity.

It’s a given that I’m not a huge fan of bourbon-barreled beers, but I run into occasional exceptions where I find that a beer is tweaked in some intriguing way by the bourbon character. Tragically, this was not one of those times. I sampled both the original Dark Knight and the newer Dark Knight Returns side-by-side, and was distinctly not impressed by either. The Dark knight was, not surprisingly, quite dark, smelling strongly of dark sweet fruits and bourbon. Very flavorful, though not in a particularly pleasant manner. Strong bourbon character (which was largely expected), but the real surprising part here was how sweet this one was, it’s a very powerful figgy/molasses sweetness mixed with the bourbon. Basically tasted like somebody made a huge batch of cloying fig juice and dropped a shot of bourbon into it. As for the Dark Knight Returns, enjoyed this one a bit more. Still very sweet, not as cloying, the bourbon’s a bit lighter allowing at least some roastiness and a bit of coffee bitterness through. Still, too strong, and my teeth hurt by the time I was done. Did not enjoy either of these, but it didn’t really have much to do with the bourbon character of either.

Huge alcohol up front finishes with a slightly burnt flavor. Big mouthfeel. Definitely doesn’t hide the alcohol too much. Don’t like the serving vessel. This would be wonderful in a bif bordeaux glass or grand cru burgundy, but not this little tulip filled to full can’t even smell anything out of this, why don’t they just give me a shot glass. As it warms it starts to show oak. Really I don’t know what the huge fuss is over; it is just a porter that the brewer kept pumping full of table sugar unitl the yeast pooped out.