Central Waters Brewers Reserve Bourbon Barrel Stout

Brewed by Central Waters Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial Stout
Amherst, Wisconsin USA

Bottle shared with HogTownHarry, blankboy, jerc & mabel - courtesy of HogTownHarry. Black with ruby-brown highlights. Lots and lots of bourbon in the aroma and flavour, sitting on top of a relatively thin and average stout, as far as I can tell. As Jer says, the bourbon flavours are nice, but with such a weak seeming beer to back them up, it’s a bit of a let-down.

Pours nice and black with a small head. Has a wonderful bourbon aroma mixed with chocolate malt aromas.Smooth as silk bourbon flavor with a great malt backing and a heavy alcohol ending.This stuff is great!

Black body, small foamy tan head fades. Woody, boozey notes are quite dominant in the aroma. Sweet syrup/molassess tinged bourbon in the flavour is about 99% of the flavour with stout struggling to make up the other one percent. Average palate is a bit thin for a stout. The bourbon is relatively refined and not overly harsh as it is in some, but by the same token almost every shred of stout character has been obliterated. Bourbon should be A flavour, not THE flavour, in my opinion.6+/3/6+/3/13
Per Mrs. GregClow, “I like my bourbon to taste like bourbon and my stout to taste like stout.”

Pours dark brown/black with no head. The aroma is bourbon, vanilla, cherry, chocolate, roast, cola and alcohol. The flavor is moderately sweet, cherry cola, bourbon, molases and alcohol. Medium body with light carbonation and a thin body, boozey finish. Pretty much carbonated bourbon.

Round 1, Beer 2 of a blind stout tasting. 12 oz bottle. Clear purple brown with a lovely crema head. Lace coats completely. Charred oak, portobellos and raisins. Medium body with root vegetables and burnt coffee. Bourbon and sour blackberries remain. Quite different with an odd earthy sourness.

Pours dark brown--almost black with a thin tan head. The aroma is definitely bourbon and some hops. Palate wasn’t too bad, but I definitely wanted something fuller. Taste was nice--very unique. Flavors of bitter chocolate, lots of toffee. Smooths out with less bitterness as it warms.

Very hyped and quite a bit high on the price. Too much so in my opinion. Wonderful aroma of vanilla and bourbon. Also a bit of roasted malt. The lighter body hits me right away however and makes me check that this is indeed a stout. Hmm, a little light. Nice coffee and chocolate aftertaste to go with the vanilla. I know there’s been quality problems with these beers and have been advised not to cellar this one too long. Still not a bad beer at all and I would reccomend a try if you can get it.

Pours out a deep brown with a small lacing head. Very nice aroma of bourbon and oak. The mouthfeel is a bit more watery than I was expecting. Flavor is complex with roasted malt, burnt fruit, oak and a bourbon, alcohol finish. Good beer, but a few things hold it from passing into the great category. Thanks go out to Ughsmash for this one.