Bull & Bush Legend of the Liquid Brain

Brewed by Bull & Bush Pub & Brewery
Style: Imperial Stout
Denver, Colorado USA

Serve in Snifter

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Props for the name? Very thick and sweet and hoppy - something I like! Thick, deep and robust, but still a little hot and biting in the finish. Smells of light chocolate, soft bourbon and some hazelnuts in the finish. This one saved me on imperial stouts at the GABF after drinking a few disasters.

2010 vintage after aged in bourbon barrels for 14 months, on tap at the brew pub. Dark black pour with creamy tan head, aroma brought notes of big bourbon and vanilla, slight booze but not overwhelming, nice chocolate and caramel notes with a decent roasted quality as well. Taste is a nice mix of big bourbon and vanilla notes, oak, hints of caramel and toffee, slight chocolate notes, hints of roast, finishes fairly sweet but drying. Tasty stuff, needed the age and could even use a bit more, but really nice.

On tap @ B&B. Pours a black appearance with a creamy foamy dark brown head. Fairly potent, smooth whiskey, dark, roasty malty, oaky nose. Actually quite sweet with some fruity flavors and a dark roasty malty body over a fairly smooth but slightly boozy whiskey flavor. Slightly sour, fruity flavor I didn’t enjoy too much. Quite sweet, roasty, whiskey aftertaste.

UPDATED: MAY 18, 2011 On tap @ Bull & Bush brewpub. Pours a sinful rich black, with minimal dark tan head, and no lacing. Creamy yet dissipating. Smell is kinda boozy, but loaded with black licorice, with a fruity hint of what I can only describe as red apple. Flavor explodes out of the gate. Black licorice and red apple aren’t as noticeable, but are instead overshadowed by smooth spicy whiskey and heavy dark malts. Very powerful and not very balanced or complex. However, it is one of the better whiskey stouts Ive had. There’s enough stout to offset the whiskey. More braun than brain, if you willl (ha!). Couldn’t finish my glass. Had to dump the rest. Which is not to say it was a drain pour, it was just too much, and definitely not for me. The whiskey started souring my mouth.

Wood barrel, honey and roasty aroma. Black in color. Taste is woody with deep roastiness and honey tones...nice alcohol finish.

Sampled at the brewery on September 15, 2010. Deep, deep dark brown color, pretty solid. Thin red hue at the top of the brew from the brewpub’s lighting. Head doesn’t stick around for long. Aroma is a little sour from the apparent aging in wood, alcoholic and liquor-ish. Flavor is strong with alcohol and not easy... very fumy with strong alcohol. Strong, but very good. Might be easier to drink given a little more malt backing, something to weigh down the alcohol so it doesn’t seem as much like you’re drinking a glass of soured isopropyl alcohol. Regardless, it’s very, very good. Just not something you should be drinking at the end of a long day of drinking. :) Next to their imperial brown, my second favorite.

Poured for Bull & Bush at GABF and had quite a bit of this on draft. Pours black and viscous with a one-finger tan head sitting on top. The aroma is huge on this. Rather roasty and slightly coffeeish with big-time blackstrap molasses, bourbon, -bal, and some slight soy sauce. The flavor is great if a little unbalanced. Gigantic roast, caramel, dark chocolate, molasses, soy, bourbon, vanilla, and -bal. Intense. Slightly boozy with thick, full body and medium-low carbonation. Rather oily and slick on the mouthfeel. Overall, this beer is a real mess, but a good one. I’d go for it again.

sample from the pitcher @ GABF on 9/18/10. pitch black pour with a 1 finger tan head. big roasted bourbon nose. huge body with layers of chocolate, coffee, dark fruit, bourbon and vanilla. so silky smooth. big finish with all of the above.

10th October 2008. GABF. Bloody hell this was confusing! This was served as Royal Oil at GABF but the beer is a thick black stout. This was so good we visited the brewpub but when we asked for Royal Oil what we got was a brown barrel aged barleywine! Later on we got this beer by it’s proper name. So I am sure as I can be this was mislabelled at GABF 08. Went back again and again for this beer - marvelous! It’s an opaque black stout. Light and creamy palate. Wonderful non dry oak and bourbon flavours. Sweet creamy bourbon finish. Fantastic.

UPDATED: MAR 16, 2011 1. Sampler at the Bull & Bush Pub & Brewery, Denver 11/10/2007 Strong fruit and caramel aromas. Small tan head. Dark red coloured smooth on the palate and strong in alcohol with a slightly bitter coffee roast finish. 2. From the Jug at the GABF, Colorado Convention Center Denver 16/09/2010 As The Legend Of The Liquid Brain Barrel Aged (2010?) ABV 12.0% Oaked aroma. Black very strong in alcohol rich on the palate hoppy and fruity with a bitter coffee roast finish.

This was a 2005 vintage on tap at the Bull and Bush. It was black as night and had a serious whiskey/bourbon smell going on. The taste had more bourbon, thick, coats your mouth. This is pretty darn good and it must certainly be barrel-aged. It kinda reminds me of Goose Island Bourbon County Stout which is a good thing. If you like RIS or barrel-aged brews, try this one. Oh, and the bartender told me it was 12% ABV. Serving type: on-tap Reviewed on: 04-02-2008 04:00:17