RateBeer
   Home Sign Up or Login Advanced Search
   People Ratings Events Places Forums Shop Magazine
      Top By Category  RateBeer Best  Latest Ratings  Top 50    

Home > Brewers > Kansas > Free State Brewing Company >

Free State Owd Macs Imperial Stout

Free State Owd Macs Imperial Stout

* picture credits
copyright may apply

 Percentile 
100
overall
An Imperial Stout brewed by
Free State Brewing Company

Lawrence, Kansas USA

bottling
unknown

on tap
available

distribution
unknown

Add Distribution Data
Send Corrections

 Ratings  Average  Score  Seasonal  ABV  Style Pctl  Serve in  Advanced 
1344.19/5.04.17/5.0Winter9.5%95Snifter P  Stats

Commercial Description:
This very special beer was brewed as a Double Strength Imperial Stout. Imperial Stouts being very big beers to begin with, that puts this at the strength of a barleywine. The Original Gravity is 27.5 P/1118, then the hopping level is very hard to define, though there are enough hops to achieve 100 IBUs in a smaller beer, this beer still has a distinct sweetness due to a high percentage of unfermentable sugars. After fermentation, this beer was aged in old whiskey barrels from the McCormack's bottling plant in Weston, MO, hence the name Owd Mac's (owd being a British regional colloquialism for old).

Most RecentTop RatersHighest Ratings Who's Rated This?
 ClarkVV (3547), Allston, Massachusetts, USA
4.7 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/105/510/105/518/20

Dec 22, 2004    Updated: Jan 23, 2006
2004 A very big thanks to Chris (csbosox) for promoting good beer throughout the country. I see the last handful of peoples’ ratings and I wonder before I drink it. Was this not meant to be? Then, after finally hand bottling (from an already handbottled bottle) two 8 oz beers (2 bottles of Old Foghorn, which I drank, then sanitized), I tried, for myself, what was left. Ahem, getting off on a tangent. I was expecting this beer to be thinned out. I poured it into a red wine glass (which is convex). The aroma takes a little while to build, but after holding my nose there, there was the distinct note of oak. Like a batch of cabernet sauvingon aged heavily on oak. Dark, sour cherries, hints of dry molasses. The appearance is superb; dark brown-tan color, with some dark reddish-copper hues swirling about. I swirl it gently, and it does not lace, but rather, coats the glass. It is heavily hazy and obviously highly unfiltered. I begin to drink, yes, here is the light thinning I have been expecting. But then, magnificently pure chocolate emerges, followed by rich salty smokey licorice flavor. It is both sweet and vinous at the same time, very homogenized flavors abound. The mouthfeel, all the while, coats the palate with its velvety smoothness, and thick, viscous body. The round vanilla flavors play with a delicate roast, as more layers of chocolate arise for a finish of pure bliss. It is everything I want from an Imperial Stout and has made me question my belief in the Dark Lord. Can this only be a young 2004 sample bottled from a growler almost 3 weeks ago??? I can’t even imagine what this would be like aged and fresh off a handpump at Free State. This is truly magnifcent beer and the people who received the growlers need to look past the slight wateriness and flatness from being growler-bottled (of course there’s no head, how can you fault the brewer for that?). If there is a type of beer that can handle this consistency, it sure is this. Consistency not unlike an English barleywine. Some will fault the thinner than usual body, but I can not. Go Kansas.

2000 vintage, hand bottled from Csbosox. Consumed on 9/22/2005 with OldGrowth. A bit of a let-down, was this. Not so much on flavor or anything, and it really wasnt even watery for its age, even pouring a nice, albeit small tan head. A very chocolatey beer, lots of peanut brittle and chewy, salty toffee. The oxidation has created some odd flavor combinations among the malt. I can see the traces of the brilliance from the 2004. Still, flavor does not have the incredible complexity that the earlier one does and the oxidation works against it, giving it much too dry a flavor, with some dullness on the end. Still a great beer, and pretty impressive that it’s even this good, being 5 years old and then hand-bottled. Certainly in no shape to apply numbers. I’m sure it would be fantastic at the brewpub.


 cgarvieuk (2541), Edinburgh, Scotland
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/59/104/517/20
Sep 29, 2008  
3 Year old Hand Bottle !!! ... at Fins, and Thanks to Casey WOW. cant belive how well this held up. Wish id tasted this along side a fresh as i struggle to think the Fresh could be much better... Deep Deep brown (not black) ...Big meaty rich toffee malt nose ... soft carbonation (but it was 3yr old) ... rich deep and complex ... nice soft roast malt... def a little vanilla ... A little spirit and a little wiskey ... im glad to see the description mentions it as there were definit whiskey tones ...again a little meaty tones ...This was a pleasent sipper and i do hope i can get a fresh sample of this:-)


 Fin (2357), Merton, Oxfordshire, England
3.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/58/104/516/20
Sep 28, 2008  
Tasting with Casey, Traci, Craig, Stella and Loz 27-09-08 this bottle brought along by Casey Pours very dark brown looking quite brittle at the edges and with the thinnest film of head on mine and a few random brown bubbles. Rich, creamy chocolate, silky and smooth with some warmth. There is lots of cappuccino in this along with a good double shot of espresso. Some oakiness and vanilla towards the end, nice.


 railcat1 (491), Kissimmee, Florida, USA
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/57/104/517/20
May 15, 2008  
I had on DLD from a growler on one of the tasteing tables with hints of roasted malts and it poured with no head but the bourbon was a little to much in this one,it was black as night and it did have a nice hop presents overall not a bad IPS.CHEERS!


 Ofortuna (315), Grafton, Wisconsin, USA
3.6 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/57/103/516/20
May 10, 2008  
Sampled at DLD 2008. From a growler. I’ve been looking forward to this for quite a long time. Pretty dead pouring with a non-existing head and a bit thin looking actually. A bit sharp on the flavour profile with notes of whisky dominating all else. Some black licorice, and anise. A bit of char on the backend and this just seems disjointed. Mouthfeel disappoints as it’s thinner than I would’ve liked to have seen.


 BlackDonald (1039), North Carolina, USA
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/516/20
Apr 7, 2008  
Growler - 2004 Vintage. Pours extremely dark and oily, with a small to almost nothing head. Roasty and somewhat herbal licorice nose. Lots of dark fruits, and a sweetness that coats the palate, and this sticks with you throughout the finish. Good, loads of vanilla and candied fruits with some wood notes as well, somewhat overrated I must admit I expected a little more complexity and carbonation, and I see that in some of the other reviews, so I must not be alone on that one.



would you like to read more ratings?



Then join us! RateBeer is made by beer enthusiasts for the craft beer community. Your basic membership is free and allows you to read all beer ratings.

Desired User Name
*


Valid Email (Needed to verify your account)
*

Relax. RateBeer is 100%, guaranteed spam-free. That's our promise to you.

I agree to the terms of the RateBeer User Agreement

RATE THIS BEER

Aroma

rating assistance

Appearance

rating assistance

Flavor

rating assistance

Palate

rating assistance

Overall impression

rating assistance

TOTAL SCORE

Comments

More Imperial Stouts

Närke Kaggen Stormaktsporter (4.47)

Three Floyds Oak Aged Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout (4.45)

Three Floyds Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout (4.38)

AleSmith Barrel Aged Speedway Stout (4.35)

Surly Darkness (4.34)

AleSmith Speedway Stout (4.34)

Bells Expedition Stout (4.32)

Närke Stormaktsporter (4.23)

Stone Imperial Russian Stout (4.22)

Stone Bourbon Barrel Russian Imperial Stout (4.21)

More Kansas Brewers

River City Brewing Co. (Kansas)
  Wichita
Blind Tiger
  Topeka
Slough Creek Vineyard
  Oskaloosa
23rd Street Brewery
  Lawrence
Little Apple Brewing Co.
  Manhattan
Flying Monkey Brewing
  Olathe
High Noon Saloon & Brewery
  Leavenworth
Lb. (Liquid Bread) Brewing Co
  Hays
Mos Place Grill & BrewPub
  Beaver
Hank is Wiser Brewery
  Cheney
Tallgrass Brewing Company
  Manhattan, KS

About RateBeer | Add A Beer | Add A Brewer | Edit Personal Info | 100 Beer Club | FAQ | Log out | Feedback? | Copyright 2000-2008, RateBeer LLC