Central Waters Brewers Reserve Bourbon Barrel Stout

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

Serve in Snifter

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Pours pitch black with a tiny tan head that leaves immediately. Aroma is vanilla and bourbon. Taste is bitter from the roasted malts that are then mostly covered up by sweet caramel malts and bourbon. It’s not as heavy on the bourbon flavor as others I’ve tried but it’s definitely there and more balanced, which I prefer. The main issue I have with this beer is that it is overcarbed for the style and there’s too much of the carbonic bit to it which makes the fuller body seem much more light. This gets better when you let it sit out a bit to warm up and lose some of the carbonation. Overall I’m fairly impressed with this stout and pleasantly surprised that it didn’t taste like carbonated bourbon like many others of this style tend to be.

Pours a murky brown with no head to speak of. Heavy coffee with some musky boozy notes. Some vanilla and cacao come through. More of a brown ale in my book. Too thin and the wrong color to be a stout of any sort.

Pours black with a thin light brown head. Nose full of bourbon and vanilla, which is quiet enjoyable. Kind of light for a BBS, only a slight taste of bourbon. Not bad to sit back and drink, I would just prefer more bourbon in my BBS. Overall, a good beer, but not great.

Pours dark brown with minimal head. Bourbon in nose and in taste with vanilla and malt. Does not have the depth that some of the more prevalent bourbon stouts out there. But still a good beer.

UPDATED: FEB 17, 2013 Very good but average or slightly below for a bba. Bourbon on the nose. Taste has touches of vanilla. Lacks the body of bourbon county or the such.

UPDATED: FEB 16, 2013 Aroma is heavy with bourbon, vanilla, mild spices and hints of coffee. Appearance is heavy dark oil and wispy off white head. Taste straight with vanilla and lovely bourbon. Palate is my only problem with this beer. It is too carbonated and watery. If it was about half as carbonated it would compete with the likes of BCBS (if not beat it). Overall, I am going to age a few for awhile and see the result!

’11 bottle enjoyed 12/26/12. Thin dark translucent brown, no head or lacing. Boozy nose of coconut and bourbon wood, with a little spice. This reminded me of both a Mounds bar and a Jack and coke at times. Fine, not flawed, but weak base beer with bourbon window dressing. Was a friend’s favorite at a stout tasting, but that guy’s an idiot :).

2012 vintage poured from bottle into Pipeworks snifter. Smells of roasted malt and oak surrounded by a heavy bourbon. Pours a deep brown with a dark fizzy head that dissipates quickly. Tastes of a nicely balanced sweet vanilla, malt, with a nice bourbon overtone that ends in a slight burn. My only wish was it be a bit thicker in body but at the price they sell for, I can’t complain one bit. Love this beer.

Pours pitch black with no head. Huge bourbon aroma with hints of vanilla and oak. Taste is lots of vanilla with a little malt. Very boozy aftertaste.

2012 bottle. Black. No light through it at all. Head that was there disappeared right away. Big bourbon aroma, vanilla, chocolate, malty. The bourbon notes really shine in this one. Full body. Roasty, malty, bourbon, vanilla, and a little smokey in the taste. There is some heat in this guy. Can feel the alcohol. Going to age the rest and see what happens over time. I can only imagine it’ll get better. Cheers!