Central Waters Brewers Reserve Bourbon Barrel Stout

Bottles courtesy of StewardofGondor and 1FastSTi. Pours oily black with no head. Huge vanilla aroma up front with some buttery chocolate and caramel in the background. Flavor again is all vanilla, with some sweet chocolate and roasted coffee, bourbon and coffee fight for the finish. Nice overall, just a little put off by all the vanilla.

Discovered this beer on ratebeer.com’s Top 50 list. Had to search high-and-low to locate it. Once we did the liquor store only had 1.5 cases left out of 3 total. Purchased 3 sixers and for the $10.39 price tag was well worth it. Color was a deep dark brown, with an aroma of vanilla, molasses and bourbon. FInished nicely with an after-taste that didn’t over-power but seemed to linger just long enough. Both aromas and taste seemed to be more pronounced when served only slightly chilled.

Thanks to hezron for this one. Bottle, 2005. Pours dark brown, with a small, tan head. Aromas are vanilla, caramel, bourbon, and lesser amounts of chocolate and malt. Flavors are vanilla, caramel, dark fruit, and bourbon, with chocolate appearing at the end.

Bottle: Courtesy of Ughsmash via trade. Aromas of vanilla, chocolate, molasses, caramel, and bourbon all play an equal part in the nose. The vanilla maybe stands out a tad more than the rest. Pours a dark brown with some orange hilights along the outer edges of the glass when held to the light. Small tan head fades quickly. Lots of vanilla and caramel. Light chocolate in the background. Finishes with a very nice balanced moderate bourbon finish. Very light hints of roasty nuttiness and coffee in the finish. Full bodied and creamy mouthfeel.

Deep, dark brown, almost black beneath a foamy tan head. The aroma was semi-sweet chocolate, Whoppers, vanilla, oak, bourbon, port, roasted coffee in a pleasing blend. Full-bodied and creamy in the mouth. The flavor was a nice blend of the initial aromas. Very enjoyable. This was a great drink.

From a bottle, latest batch. Guess I’ll go against the grain on this one. Its tasty stuff, hides its alcohol well, but nothing that blew me away. Drinkable and inexpensive (what a great combo), but it lacked the complexity one would associate with a Top50 beer. Lots of vanilla on the nose and palate, followed by some spices and the usual stout suspects. Suprisingly sweet, less hoppiness and roastedness than I might have expected. Solid, not overwhelming. GREAT TASTE 2008: This was exceptional on nitro. Nice work, gentelmen

Rating #400. 12 oz, 2005 bottle. Poured a deep mahogany with a beautiful initial creamy caramel head (stuck around for only a minute or so). Brilliant aroma of vanilla, molasses, bourbon, coconut, roasted chocolate, caramel, oak, fresh berries, and love... I know that a considerable amount of love must have been employed to craft this brew. Quite a sweet overall feel from the flavor, with vanilla, oak, and bourbon making the first impressions. Deeper down were chocolate malts, molasses, and some nuttiness. Whiskey was a significant characteristic, but complementary to the other great flavors (which is a tough balance to achieve). Creamy and thick around the edges of the mouth, but a little lighter than expected through the middle. Chocolate and bourbon formed a long-lasting finish. Loved every minute of it!

12oz bottle, 2005 release
Well, it’s been worth the wait. Pours a deep murky ruby with a thinnish tan head that soon retreats to the rim. Aroma of coffee, honey, molassas, vanilla, wood, and dried fruit. Hezron’s right -- you could sniff this stuff for hours. Flavor is most defined by bitter roast grain, but there plenty of sweet malt, vanilla, honey and molassas to mitigate. Nice lively bubbly and slightly viscous palate. Arguably the craft-beer bargain of the century at $11 a six-pack. $11 will barely get you a single bottle of Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, against which this stuff stacks up fairly well. <P>By the way, nice to have met you today, Mr. Ughsmash. :)