Blue & Gray Minor Dementia Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout

Brewed by Blue & Gray Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial Stout
Fredericksburg, Virginia USA

Name: Minor Dimentia
Date: December 12, 2009
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, ORF
Appearance: black, frothy tan head
Aroma: roasted malt aroma, bourbon sweetness
Flavor: sweet chocolate and bourbon flavor, touch of dark chocolate and roasted bitterness
Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.3/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+ /4

A big thanks to Bboyshatter for sending this one along in the under 100 BIF. Bottle poured into a Portsmouth tulip glass produced a finger worth of tan head that turns into a thin lace around the glass. The color is of course a typical stout black with some light tan highlights when held to the light. The bourbon barrel ageing comes threw in the nose, vanilla and oak come out in the aroma rather quickly. Then the chocolate and coffee come out as it warms. A huge amount of bourbon flavor also comes thru before you get to the typical stout offerings of roasted malts and dark chocolate. I also found some black licorice flavors that were quite pleasant. It is a tad warm but at 13% I would expect so. Heavy in the mouth with a slight carbonation tingle on your tongue. A sippable brew not one you would go back for more than one glass at a sitting. Not a bad offering from a lesser known brewery

Bottle. Dark in color with an off white head. Bigger aroma than taste. Taste is not quite so smooth. Aroma of grain, toast, brea, alcohol. Taste is roasty and burnt and a bit dry and dirty.

Bottle. Courtesy of my friend Vince. Pours black. Small brown head. Nose is bourbon, wood, roasted malts, and vanilla. Taste is something altogether different. There’s roasted malts and vanilla notes but there is also some plastic and band-aid like flavors in this. It’s not a full on infection but it’s close enough. Body is medium with bubbly carbonation. Ends with more roasted malts, vanilla, wood and bourbon but more of the band-aid and plastic. What a disappointment!

22oz from Once Upon a Vine, Richmond. Only 10 ratings? Anyways, a still pour which is dark brown and very clear, unlike the regular version. Strangely, the nose here isn’t demonstraby more boozy or barrel-y than the base version either. It’s not too pronounced, but at the same time there aren’t many notable malt or roasted barley qualities in the aroma so we’re down to just one note, as it were. The body is rather thin. Flavor is surprisingly fruity at the start, and not even the dark vinous quality you get from some impys. Harsh and boozy finish, not much depth here.

(Sample Date: 1/26/2009 Source:Capital Ale House - Downtown) Some roasty notes in aroma. Fairly dark amber brown with small rocky head. Roasty flavor with lots of hot alcohol. Some dark fruit flavors come through in the finish along with whiskey and wood.

Tap and Capital Alehouse downtown Richmond. Pours an ok dark black with a dissipating head. Aroma of dakr chile pwder and dark cocoa posder- almsot bittersweet with a meaty saltiness going on. Chocoalte malt flavor some salty meats, more char and more peppers with a kicking bite at the end and slgiht oxidation all around. Slcik backbone and aftertaste. Meh

Served on draft as part of the Black Moonday event at Capital Alehouse in Richmond, VA.Pours a reddish brown color with a small head. Huge aroma of wood, bourbon and almost winelike tannic notes. Taste is chocolate, caramel, bourbon, cherry, grape and fairly strong alcohol. Medium bodied.,