Flossmoor Station Wooden Hell

Big thanks to fogdog for sharing this rare treat. Pours garnet with brown edges and off white head. The aroma brings up notes of oak, vanilla, bourbon, some caramel and an inviting thin layer of dark fruitiness. The taste is smooth even rich goodness with a very nice mix of vanilla, caramel and oak to start. It then picks up some bourbon and booze heat by midway. It gets a bit boozy and more bourbony and a tad chemical boozy into the finish. The taste started strong and amazing but finished a bit rough. Some age should smooth that out but I’m sure there will be almost none of this around by that time.

Bomber generously shared by bring on BA - thanks, Barry! Pours a dark reddish brown color with some tan foam and decent lacing. Awesome aroma of bourbon, oak, vanilla, caramel, and brown sugar. Flavor is more of the same, with a great sweet caramel/toffee malt background, brown sugar, bourbon, oak, vanilla, and some dark fruits. Amazing palate - smooth creamy, and a little syrupy with medium-full body. Overall this is a phenomenal beer.

22oz copper-wax dipped bomber into tulip. Thanks to a friend who brought this up to FFF’s to split. A - Pours dark red/copper/brown with a small off-white head. Mirky, but not overly so. No real lacing because of the small amount of head, but this doesn’t bother me at all. S - Yum! Bourbon, dark fruits, malt, a sweet alcohol nose in there as well. T - Outstanding! This beer has aged well over the 9 months since purchase. The bourbon and sweetness of the dark fruits/malt combine into an epic brew. It’s not hot at all, just perfect for my tastes. M - Medium bodied, very smooth, nice oily finish. D - I wish I had another bottle to try again sometime but alas, this was my only chance to sample this one unless I get lucky in the future. An excellent BA Barleywine! Serving type: bottle

Bottle. Pours a very dark amber/brown color with a soapy beige head. Aroma is bourbon, vanilla, oak, tart cherries, brown sugar. Flavor is brown sugar, caramel, vanilla, oak, bourbon, molasses, prunes. Palate is full bodied, mild caronation, finished sweet, bourbony, warming, sticky. Fantastic stuff, just a wee bit short of sublime!! Excellent use of the bourbon, still just a touch much, but sooo good. Huge thanks....C!

Thanks a ton to 17thfloor for sharing this 22 oz bomber with me! Pours a pretty deep brown red with a nice lingering frothy off-white head. Aroma is fantastic, fills the nostrils with plenty of complexity. Tons of woody oak, bourbon, vanilla, coconut and almonds. Began to pick up more cherry as it warmed up as well. Really nice balance of all of those. Flavor starts with a big strong vanilla and bourbon kick, kind of cookie like but not overly sweet. Gets a really nice subtle bitterness towards the finish with a woody hoppiness along with the almond nutty notes. Pretty full bodied, rich but not too heavy. All around great beer, perfect balance of complexity but not overwhelming, just easy to enjoy. Everything about this beer seemed exactly as it should be.

22oz bomber shared with funkybrewster. My 3rd sampling of this beer. Wish I had more than 2 bottles though. Pours a darker mahogany color, unclear, with actually a bit of carbonation which I was not expecting, small thin off-white fizzy frothy head. Almost patented Wooden Hell aroma, strong bourbon and oak, loads of oak character, vanilla, almond, light booze, some sticky dark sugars 8.5. Of my three samplings, this is by far my favorite. Great drinkability for something with such huge flavors. Even though it has plenty of character it is definitely on the "one-note" side of things. Flavor is super rich but not over the top cloying, close though, rich warming woody nutty doughy boozy bourbon, vanilla, light fruit, the perfect amount of hops that are most apparent in the finish, touch of nutty bitterness, this is definitely over-the-top bourbon/oak, but it works here for some reason, almost as if the beer was crafted around those components... hmmm =). Rich tasty brown sugar/molasses that is offset by some bittering hops in the finish. Tasty tasty tasty bourbon, oak and candied barley. The body suits this beer absolutely perfectly, medium near full, not nearly as sticky or syrupy as the previous two times I’ve tried it, fantastic perfect soft ubiquitous very fine fizzy tickling carbonation.

Deep brown-garnet pour. The aroma is loaded with sweet malts and a rich oaky nose. A touch of light vanilla and a bright fruity hoppiness. Soft and sweet with loads of woody character. It’s notably boozy but the fruity esters and hoppiness helps combat this substantially. A lingering chewy/oaky sweetness. There is a nice hoppy finish with a heavy lingering bitterness. Big, strong and quite nice.

Appearance: Served up a hazed humble shade of brown with, sadly, no real head formation. Smell: Lush, heavy aroma of all things sweet one would find in a kitchen cupboard with notes of things one would find in the liquor cabinet. Taste: Rich, sweet caramel, Grade ’B’ maple syrup, and melted brown sugar initially. Dried dark fruitiness. The coconut is far more prominent in the taste, presenting a small, meager sip of Malibu. There’s a spicy, earthy bitterness, but it’s no match for the full-on sweetness. Transient wooden tastes. More brown sugar and now some split vanilla beans. While there is a fair amount of alcohol heat, it’s well contained beneath the heavy layers of sweet flavors. Long, semi-sweet finish with more of that satisfying alcohol warmth. Mouthfeel: Medium-full body. Medium carbonation. Smooth, luscious mouthfeel. Drinkability: Very sweet, very dessert-like, and very enjoyable. It’s nice to just sit with this one quietly, soaking in all the goodness.