Central Waters Brewers Reserve Bourbon Barrel Stout

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

Dark black imperial stout pour with a thin off-white wisp of a head. Dark, dried prunes and raisiny aromas with some breadiness and roasted malts. Some light cocoa and coffee aromas as well. Definite oakiness powers through in the flavors, as well as more roasted malts. Rather thin and uncomplex overall for an imperial stout, and I have to admit that I am disappointed from my anticipation of drinking this brew. Final smack reveals the bourbon in its most unrefined form, the alcohol burn charging to the fore-front of my senses.

Thanks Johnfor bringing this down. Malty,dark fruit,Irish coffee aroma black as night,raisin, malt, prune, and of course a smooth Jim Beam like overtone with a little smoke in the aftertaste. Barley bitterness becomes evident in the middle,more so at the in. Palate seems to thin out a little at the end. A tasty smooth wonderful concoction out of this small time brewery

Bottle provided by my man Styles and the fat guy in a red suit. A supremely deep mahogany colored beer, deep rich ruby only shows though when backlit. Clear. Fast fading light tan head subsides to a ring fairly quickly and leaves little lacing behind. Pleasant aroma, hints of molasses and maple syrupe, moderate chocollate presence. Medium bodied, lightly boozy on the palate. Feels a bit thin at times, perhaps I am looking for too much. RIch chocolate flavor with vanilla notes, moderately tannic. Overall a well done barrel aged beer.

Thanks to Duane for this 12 oz. bottle. Pours dark dark brown with a minimal tan head. Aromas were not overbearingly bourbon, but it was there. Coffee and dark fruit too. Flavor was also nicely balanced with bourbon making a nice appearance, but allowing the roasty coffee and molassas and decent hoppiness come through. Not too viscous either. Very good.

OK, worth the hype. Chewy sweet raisins, very port-like, with a great deal of roasted character make up the solid base beer, which is sensible here, most importantly. Then a smooth layer of bourbonness, never too raw, takes over and melds quite smoothly, with only a hint of raw bourbon in the veeerrry long finish. The aroma is a tad hot with the bourbon, but other than that, this is spot on in every department. Whoever said the base stout could handle this was totally right (I think that’s the gist of notalush, BBB63 and MilkmanDan’s comments). Thanks to Joel for the great sample.

Good. Some roasted malt in the aroma. The beer is black. Mostly sweet, and the bourbon is on the light side. Very smooth and fairly heavy.

Bottle thanks to The_Enemy! Pours a hazy brown color with a small off-white head. Aroma is slightly roasty with a touch of alcohol and sweetness to it. Flavor is very strong and needs to age a little bit (will mellow it out). However, very delicious flavor that combines bourbon, sweetness and alcohol with a big mouthful, very smooth as well. This beer was good and imo will be fantastic in about a year.

Dark with a bit of redness to it. Nice use of bourbon here--it’s an addition to the beer instead of just tasting like somebody dropped a shot of cheap bourbon into a crappy stout. Lightly smoky with just the right hint of bourbon sweetness, a bit of roast malt bitterness. Good vanilla notes. Finishes nutty and dry. Were there more bourbon-barreled beers like this, I’d be much happier with the style.