 JB175 (1269), Holland, Pennsylvania, USA
Apr 24, 2008
Handbottle from Stine - thanks man! This one pours nearly black with nary a head. Aroma is big and woody with some chocolate and cream - amazing how much more vanilla I get here than alcohol. Flavor has a wonderful chocolate/cream and oak/vanilla blend. Lots of bourbony goodness in there, but not overdone. I don’t even feel that 13%ABV until it hits my stomach. Really wonderful stuff that is truly worthy of its top 50 status. One of the best BA beers around.
pepsican (640), the beer wastelands of, Iowa, USA
Jul 5, 2008 Completely black pour with a small tan head. Aroma is heavy bourbon, vanilla, and chocolate. Flavor is even more bourbon, vanilla, wood, oak, toast, brown sugar, and maybe a bit of coconut. Finishes with a good burn, very thick and creamy. This was very nice!
nimbleprop (551), Washington, Washington DC, USA
Jul 3, 2008 Never thought I’d have a chance to try this beer, then hellomynameis hooked me up with a 12oz hand bottle via trade. Thanks a million Zac! Pours a flat, oily black with a thin tan head that left only a faint ring around the edge of a glass. Looks more like flat cola or a black malbec than a pint of ale. Aroma is a little boozy at first, but once is breaths there’s vanilla, oak, toasted wood, toasted bread, chocolate, coffee, Kahlua, bourbon, soy sauce, liquid smoke, dark cane sugar and a little bit of rum. Flavor is again, very boozy at first, but then it becomes very very chocolaty, with rum, whiskey, brown sugar, molasses, some soy, vanilla, and coffee with cream. The finish and the mouth feel make this beer. Flat and oily in the mouth with plenty of heat from the alcohol, but the crazy thing is, after the shock of the booze wears off you wind up with a creamy, sweet, delicious after taste in your mouth. What starts a very good beer melds into a great beer by the end. A total shock and far far better than I imagined it would be. Definitely not for the faint at heart but clearly a beer brewed with much care and consideration.
pnista (861), Bloomington, Indiana, USA
Jun 29, 2008 On tap at the brewpub, 2006 batch. Pours a dark dark brown to black with a ring of tan for a head. Big sweet vanilla bourbon. A bit of booze, though soft. Maybe some slight coconut. Light and ethereal, lower carbonation. Alcohol thinness. Big alcohol over light sweetness. Big bourbony vanilla, some coconut and oak. Lingering sweetness dried out by oaky tannins and alcohol. A real gem!
crowderm (151), St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
Jun 17, 2008 On tap. Very dark brown, not head, some nice visible carbonation. The nose is very thick with bourbon, also some roasted malt and chocolate in support. The flavor is initially very, very bourbony, but as the beer warms this becomes more manageable and the flavors balance out a bit. The bourbon still takes center stage (which admittedly is not really my thing), beyond the bourbon there are some very nice chocolate, caramel and burnt sugar notes, with some burnt malt bitterness. The palate is a bit thin for such a heavy beer, but is very smooth - pretty easy drinking for 13%. Like Goose Island’s bourbon county stout, this is a great beer, but the bourbon characteristic just isn’t for me.
SQNfan (384), Wheaton, Illinois, USA
Jun 12, 2008 Growler: Dark brown in color with almost no head. The nose shows off coffee, chocolate, vanilla and bourbon! When warmed it also shows off some alcohol but given the level of power it almost seems expected. In the mouth it is full-bodied and the flavors from the nose follow. Given the girth, it was surprisingly well-balanced and dare I say...drinkable.
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