Flossmoor Station Wooden Hell

Brewed by Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Flossmoor, Illinois USA

FoBAB 2008 offering: #305 - The legendary Wooden Hell, a beer that needs no introduction and one that I had yet to taste. Pours a dark murky brown with a small offwhite head. Aromas of Woodford, malty sweetness. Taste is largely sweet bready, biscuity, toffee maltiness. Woodford bourbony notes compliment well in the finish and aftertaste. Touch of raisin and deep malty, bourbon finish. A bit sweet, but really good. Hard to session. Notes read: "Brutally good, sessionable at this point.". Cheers!

Fobab VI. Ah, the fabled Wooden Hell, winner of Fobab V (I think). Managed a very good showing. Nice, dark brown beer with a nose of more than bourbon, which can be hard to come by. Vanilla comes out, as does wood, sweetness, frosting and cupcakes. There’s also a very nice backbone of some dry grain in there. Syrupy thick and rich, this is a sipper. Damn fine.

Light brown colored ale, with an outstanding nose and quite a bit of depth. Bourbon soaked wood, vanilla, coconut and interesting traces of the original beer as well. Taste packs a nice punch, with an array of layered flavors. Everything I look for in a barrel-aged beer. Heavy mouth feel, balanced but bold flavors of the barrel, but the base beer delivers quite a bit as well. I like it a lot, but I like sweet barrel aged beers.

Tap at Flossmoor (pre-DLD party). Amber pour with a sparse head. Aroma is nutty with a heavy grassy hops aroma. Taste is nutty, dark fruits. Nice mouthfeel.

4-25-08 tap at Flossmoor (pre-DLD party)
Big dark brown pour with little head. Smell is sweet and oaky and balanced. Flavor is quite balanced as well with oak and toffee in there. Mouthfeel is creamy and smooth and just right. Overall, very enjoyable - a great brew!

In short: A splendid highly drinkable woody Barley Wine. Tasty body and well-hopped.
How: Tab at brewpub. Pre-Dark-Lord-Day party 2008
The look: Brown body with a medium beige head
In long: Lots of dark fruits, lots of dark caramel, some brown sugar and some red fruits. I expected yet another strong boring bourbon barrel presence but instead I got a tasty woody/cedar/oak sensation. Expertly positioned hops greatly increase drinkability with a sharp but short bitterness, a tree bark flavour and a light citric touch. Unlike the other Wooden Hell this one is an excellent concept. The other one was a very bad idea and it burnt down immediately, Satan then fired his contractor and got himself a nice Asbestos Hell.

Pour is hazed amber with a thin tan brown head...smel is sweet with caramel and toasty day old bread...nice soft mouthfeel...very well balanced with toasty and wood flavors...wow!!!

Draft at Flossmoor during the pre-DLD event. This poured deep brown in color with practically no head. The nose was sweet but balanced with aromas of vanilla, caramel and dark fruit. The palate was smooth with solid weight and good flavor concentration. I definitely preferred this to Sheol and wish they had bottled this one!