Central Waters Brewers Reserve Bourbon Barrel Stout

2008 Bottle - Pours almost black with a tiny tan head...aroma is dry malt, chocolate...taste is similar, dark fruit, it gets a bit tart and astringent at the end...char gone wrong...decent....

Bottle: Dark brown with a nice tan head. Nose is bourbon with a little citrus sweet and some light chocolate. Soft and silky. Tastes malty and chocolatey with a light bourbon element and faint hops. Nice.

12oz shared by crosling. Pours a dark brown/black with a small mocha head. Aromas of chocolate, bourbon, light oak notes and some roasted malts. Flavors the same, chocolate and mellow bourbon notes, the bourbon is very nice and not overpowering at all. Palate is rich and velvety. Thanks again Nick.

Imperial Stout aged in oak Bourbon Barrels. Dark chocolate and a slight spicy rye and vanilla character dominates this beer. Notes of coffee, roast, caramel, oak, and earth. Quaffable, rich and warm.

12oz bottle courtesy of iowaherkeye poured into a tulip. Pours a dark chocolate brown that settles in close to black in the glass underneath a large tan head that dissipates to a healthy ring and leaves spotty lacing. Aroma is big and sweet with dark chocolate malts and bourbon complementing it well without dominating too much. The oak presence is there as well. The bourbon kicks it up a notch in the taste and is more prominent throughout. There is the vanilla and chocolate sweetness up front with some dark fruits in the middle before the bourbon burn comes back in the finish. The mouthfeel is slick and has decent carbonation. It may be a little thin but that’s nitpicking. This is a very good bourbon stout and very drinkable as the bourbon is strong but not overpowering. Tasty.

Pours dark brown, opaque except at the edges, ruby glints through the darkness, with a modest tan head, fading to spots of lace and a persistent film of bubbles. Aroma is vanilla, caramel, and bourbon. Flavor begins with roast malts and dark fruit, the the vanilla and caramel from the barrel take over, before a long, lingering finish of tannins and bitter chocolate. Medium bodied, not highly carbonated, but the effervescence that’s tere harmonizes well with the barrel’s astringency. Especially compared to the same brewer’s non-barreled impy, much more a sipper than a drinker, but very good.

Bottle sampled at the Hopsnobbery Collective stout tasting on 1.16.09 courtesy of Dogbrick. Pours dark brown with a thin beige head. Malty and syrupy aroma with some booze. Equally malty flavor that is also somewhat tart and a bourbony finish. Pretty good overall.

A very good stout. The bourbon is noticable but regardless of the pluses that that adds it is very good. Dark roasty notes and coffee throughout. Damn good if you can find it.