4.1 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20UPDATED: MAY 4, 2013 2012 bottling. Fantastic stuff. Nice warm bourbon aroma. Great balance of bourbon, coffee and chocolate. Not as heavy on the bourbon as some of the others, but this does have some age on it. The coffee held up remarkably well, i thought that would fade out over time.
Re rate with 13 bottle. For some reason, this years batch didn’t impress. A little thin, bourbon was a bit light. I guess when I had it the first time I was a bit new to the BA stout scene, and now I’ve had a lot that impress me more. anyway, final rating is 4.1 average of the 4.3 original and 3.9 id give it now
4.4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 18/20
Chocolate and whiskey aroma and heavy taste of each. Did i mention that it has a little bit of a whiskey taste (cold). That said KBS is a true thick stout. Little to no head on the draft pour. The coffee is very subtle compared to normal Breakfast Stout. The overall taste mellows a little bit as it warms. Much better warm...the layers are chocolate, coffee, bourbon.
4.5 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 18/20
Boozy whiskey nose, super chocalatey...taste of bourbon on the tongue. Powerful yet smooth. Slight coffee. More mealy than Bell’s Black making it more robust but not as smooth. Almost licorice with the booze.
4.4 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 10/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Such smooth character that really comes through on the finish. The slightest hint of bourbon really adds to the complexity
4.5 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 19/20
Pours a deep, dark black with a thin brown head. Smells of molasses, malts, chocolate, and bourbon. Palate is incredible. Drink the beer slowly as the tastes change as it warms. Everything from coffee, malts, bourbon, to dark chocolate. Absolutely fantastic taste and palate!
4.6 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 19/20
Doesn’t get much better than this.
Roast, chocolate, and coffee all throughout the aroma and flavor. Body is big, very well attenuated. Once a beer gets this dark in color I’m not sure it retains enough complexity in the visual to garner a perfect score in that category, just a personal hang up I suppose.
This is a beer all should try. Drank one now, will be drinking one in a year or two as well.
4.9 AROMA 10/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 10/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 19/20
Great beer yes I gave it a perfect rating. Is this way overrated now that I’ve tried it....yep. No beer is worth selling your liver which is what I practically had to do in order to get some of this. If you’ve tried Central Waters Brewers Reserve it’s basically the same thing. KBS is just a touch more chocolaty.
5 AROMA 10/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 10/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 20/20
Believe the hype. This beer is freaking awesome. The beer pours a motor oil black with a orangish brown mild head, which dissipates quickly. The aroma is mild with notes of chocolate, vanilla, and coffee. The beer laces very well due to its high ABV. First flavors noticed are vanilla and chocolate with a nice bourbon barrel aged heated mouthfeel. As the beer warms up the coffee flavors are much more intense. It actually tastes like someone poured a few tablespoons of dark coffee into this beer while it was sitting in the glass. If you like barrel aged stouts, you will love this beer. It’s wicked. I’ve had the old rasputin barrel aged 750 ml and I would rather have this one any day. That beer has a higher ABV but this one is more intensely flavored. Quality stuff.
4.4 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 17/20
Draft poured jet black with a caramel color head. Semi sweet aroma. Initially sweet on the tongue, then a full Bourbon flavor. Cannot wait to have this again.
4.2 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 17/20
Bottle at home, from an IP trade with Michael C, 11/05/13.
Pours jet black with a big tan head that soon dissipates to a swirl and edgeing.
Nose carries a good kick of espresso coffee, roast malt, treacle toffee, brown sugars, bourbon evident.
Taste begins with a bourbon hit followed by roast malts, coffee, light cocoa, brown sugars, woody notes, little more bourbon, leather, ash, boozey maltesers.
Full bodied with fine carbonation pitched at just the right level to make this double digit ABV’er eminently drinkable. Sweetish boozey finish where the bourbon really comes through.
Top draw, the bourbon is well drilled - noticeable but not OTT and the overall alchohol level is kept in check and well intregrated into the beer.
4.3 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 18/20
12 oz bottle poured near black; opaque with a proper head.
Powerful, enticing aroma of dark malts, fine bourbon, and faint wood. Slightly boozy, but less than expected for over 11% ABV. There’s a lot going on here, with even more complexity in the flavor. An excellent mix with good balance. Taste is just a tad too smoky/burnt.
Feel: full body is slightly harsh (recall over 11% ABV); Medium carbonation, if off at all, is a tad high; Smooth and warming.
O: had 2-3x in the past on tap but this was the 1st time bottled; perhaps because it had some additional age (no way to tell at this point) this was even better than remembered. An excellent big beer; very rich and complex, and a bit boozy in manner most may find appealing.
|
