Central Waters Brewers Reserve Bourbon Barrel Stout

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

Serve in Snifter

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   add pic

UPDATED: FEB 1, 2012 A huge thanks to JPDISPO for this one. This one just blew me away. Pours obsidian, with a big, rich tan head and big lacing. Aroma of malt, chocoff, bourbon, licorine, prunes, almonds. Tastes malty, with a big chocoff flavor, as well as fruit, berries, milk stoutiness, oats. Finishes rich, firm, slighty heavy, and just awesome. Very Impy Stoutish, with further roastiness, sweetness, and a velvety chocolate syrup and molasses taste as it warmed. Very complex, very well balanced, and very damn good. INSERT SPACE 01-Feb-2012: Updating, not re-rating a thing. Wow, it’s hard to believe it’s been almost 8 years since I received this in a trade from Minnesota beer God JPDIPSO, popped it open on my porch in a lovely 90 degree August night with a CAO maduro cigar, and awarded one of my first 5.0 perfecto robusto scores. This version has an orange label and a 2011 vintage printed on the bottle. Wow, this reminds me a lot of the Fifty Fifty vintages I just worked through, and I wouldn’t change a thing. This 7+ year wait has proved two things to me. 1.) I am an awesome beer rater, leader, and pioneer/discoverer of great beers, and 2.) This beer kicks ass, and always has.

This is without a doubt the best beer I have come across. A big beer, it kicks you in the teeth with so much flavor and complexity that you can spend tremendous effort trying to define and still come up short. Complexity increases as it warms, drinkability is first rate from the get-go. Heavy with little head, syrupy without too much sweetness. powerfully alcoholic without making you pucker, chocolate, vanilla, bourbon, cream, and pure deliciousness from start to finish. A true cigar beer. Enjoy it alone or with your most powerful smokable, cheese, fruit, or what have you. This beer is the shining star no matter the supporting cast. An all-star A1 beer. To be experienced at all costs. This is my favorite beer without question.

One for the brewer and his willingness to make a bold statement. A dark/black thick with little to no head pour. The aroma is heavy with burbon and chocolate. The taste is noteably burbon and quickly turns to a sweet chocolate spice flavor. There is a is an alcohol kick to this brew that stays with you for a while. Best consumed from a Brandy sniffter (have tried straignt from the bottle cold, room temp, frosted glass, frosted glass letting warm, and tap in sniffter). Flavor intensifies as it ages; bought a case and seems to get better with time.

Aroma: strong bourbon, oak Appearance: small, dirty-white, head, diminishes Flavor: bourbon, alcohol, and oak initially, finishes with chocolate flavor Palate: creamy texture, average carbonation Overall: Great Beer!

Excellent beer from central waters, really nice flavors plus a high alcohol by volume combine for an excellent stout, best beer brewed by central waters and they make a lot of em.

this is an awsome beer. Its the best beer in wisconsin or the world. its hand crafted by real people with real passion for beer. no fancy names or gimmics. The 2005 batch was a bit off due too only 3 months of aging.

2007 Bottle Pours out black with a tan head that retains well; leaves a nice lacing, especially for a high gravity brew. Smell is splendid. A rich scent of bourbon, vanilla bean, chocolate, and roastiness make up the aroma. This is not overdone like almost all other bourbon barrel beers are; it is amazingly well done. Bourbon taste is strong, but smooth; noticeable, but in no way overpowering. Perfectly blend of flavors. Carbonation is a little higher than medium but does a good job holding this one together. Mouthfeel is medium, with a dry, roasty, bourbon-y, and vanilla finish. BA Dark Lord, Kentucky Breakfast, and Bourbon County Stout are just a few examples of very good bourbon aged stouts; the one that comes closest to this one is BA Speedway. Yes, I did just say that, this is the king of bourbon barrel stouts, in my opinion.

UPDATED: MAR 16, 2007 Poured a nice thick two inch head of mocha foam which left a sticy lace as it subsided. Pitch black in the glass. Smell: HEAVENLY.... smoky bourbon, coffee, molasses, dark chocolate. Taste: WOW. Homerun! Again, bourbon, coffee, etc. Moutfeel: Amazingly smooth for the higer than average ABV. Thick and coating...even creamy. Very light alcohol tingle. I find this stuff to be amazing. Drinkabilty: Simply outstanding. I can’t seem to get enough of this amazingly smooth, yet complex BBS. Likely the highest rating I’ve given to any beer.

UPDATED: NOV 5, 2004 Re-Rate 10/30/04 RBMNG - Badgerben was good enough to bring a couple of bottles of this stuff to our recent Ratebeer Minnesota Gathering. Since my previous rating was at a beer festival with less than ideal conditions, I felt I needed to re-rate it. Aroma jumped up 3 points and flavor went up one notch. Otherwise, identical marks. Rich, chocolate aroma with an obvious alcohol presence and hints of bourbon. Deep ruby red color with a small, off-white, mostly diminishing head. Excellent. Flavor is awesome; soft, chocolate, nuts. Reeeaaally good. Could be a little sweeter. Similar in essence to the Dark Lord. 9/6/04 - 2004 GTM. Milk chocolate aroma. Hint of alcohol. Opaque. Small, light brown head, mostly disappating. Reasonably high alcohol. Milk chocolate stout, but with higher alcohol. Flavor is excellent. One of the top brews at the GTM, but falls short of Town Hall’s Czar Jack.

This is a wonderful brew. Oh my! Dark color. I don’t know if it’d pass the flashlight test but fuck it. Looks good enough to me. Nose is huge with chocolate, whiskey and a big whiff of coconut that adds an impenetrable richness---most excellent. Flavor is not quite so intense but has an edge of cocoa liqueur, dark chocolate, spiced rum, vanilla, burnt sugar, campfire roasted marshmallows--well, you get it. This stuff is complex, intense, insane, astronomical. It’s the Cadillac of big stouts. Big long lingering bitter chocolate and booze finish almost forces you to take another sip. Damn.