Central Waters Brewers Reserve Bourbon Barrel Stout

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

Bu11zeye and I were at a tasting at TChrome’s house, and he had revealed his bottle in the fridge, from which point we were then relentless--it had to be opened. This was a form of Ratebeer Abuse that is probably unconscionable. Well, I do feel a twinge of guilt, but I’ll try to make it up to Tad and I’m not *really* losing any sleep over it. :-) This is a very subtle beer. Gentle, bourbon, woody, taco sauce, licorice, vanilla, rich dark chocolate, bug repellant, aroma with little alcohol at all (impressive considering its abv). Dense yet creamy, whipped, airy quality--so light on the palate. The flavor is roasted and bitter with a distinct marshmallow quality. It does strick me as an imperial stout in the vein of the Dark Lords and Speedways of the world--mostly because its palate is so much lighter. But it is a very balanced beer with a ton of sophistication. Thanks TChrome--you’re extremely gracious and will be rewarded when I find a way.

Nose of bourbon with coffee, vanilla, and a little chocolate; Dark brown with red edges and a tint tan head; Flavor was of bourbon, vanilla, with coffee notes and a samll hop finish.

Thanks to zathrus13 for this one - pours a rather dark brown, nearly black, with a small ring of off-white lace - aroma is actually quite earthy, with notes of coffee/cream, vanilla, wood, and, of course, bourbon - quite dry and smokey for an imperial, with lots of oak, some herbal qualities - plums and dates - vanilla and bourbon combine with some most typical IS characteristics (roastiness, cocoa, coffee) to quite nice ends - finishes pretty dry and chocolatey - all of the qualities in this beer come together quite well, and it never gets overwhelming, cloying, or out of balance like many other beers of this style (especially barrel-aged ones) - very nice indeed.

35,5 cl bottle. Black colour with a small head. Aroma of sourness, yearth, oak, chocolate and some roastedness too. Full body. Nice flavour of oak, roastedness, chocolate and some vanilla. Ends up very nice endeed.

(12 oz bottle: Obtained in trade with CaptainCougar, thanks Tom!) Like Satin Solstice, I aged this in my cellar for 8 months, and unfortunately, this beer is "suffering" from the same issues as the Satin Solstice. It’s extremely earthy, sharp and pungent, both in the flavor and nose. The nose is totally dominated by earth, mulch and mushrooms, and try as I might, I don’t get much else. And that same earthy, mushroomy flavor is strong enough to overpower even the bourbon barrel aspects, but not kill them entirely. Mild oak and bourbon does come out in the flavor, mostly in the finish, and especially as the beer warms. A moderate undercurrent of toastiness joins the roast after the initial blast of pungent earth. Somewhat sweet, but it most certainly isn’t jumping out at me. Medium "plus" in body. Dark brown in color, but definitely not black, and not opaque except when looking through the middle of the full glass. Now that I’m down to the final two inches of the beer, it’s translucent. After the pour, the tan head was about average in size, under half an inch, and faded extremely quickly to a small halo, which it’s now held for the duration of the session. I’m gonna have to retry this one too because I just don’t think this strong earthiness is intended.

Bottle from Landseer, as an extra. Whiskey, roasty aroma. The whiskey is strong but this is well done, not overpowering, well balanced. Perhaps a bit of character from the stout itself is lacking. Taste is very nice, there is a fruitiness from the whiskey that comes out, nice smoothness and vanilla from the oak, and underlying stout characteristics. Again, perhaps the underlying beer isn’t quite strong enough, but it holds its own against the whiskey, much better than some examples I’ve seen. Could stand to be more powerful though, or just have less time in the barrel. Still, a very tasty beer that I’d gladly drink again.

[150-20061221] 341mL. Meaty beef stock aroma with boozy wafts. Dark brown coffee body with very little light brown head. Same malty meaty stock carried through in flavour with a nice long aftertaste. Full body. Interesting and very direct combination, a tad overpowering.

Bottle. Black, small beige head, lots of bubbles. Lovely whisky aroma - sweet alcohol and malt. Taste is also very sweet from the bourbon barrel, with alcohol and hops in the backgrounds. It remains pretty balanced, but can get a little harsh as it warms, something I have found in most barrel-aged beers. A rich tasting flavourful beer that I would like to try without the barrel aged part. Thanks again to Captain Cougar for the trade.