Freetail Bourbon Barrel Aged La Muerta

Brewed by Freetail Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial Stout
San Antonio, Texas USA

Serve in Snifter

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(750ml bottle) Pours a black body with a medium tan head. Aroma of vanilla, smoke, caramel, wood, bourbon, and light vinegar. Flavor of smoke, roasted malt, vinous, wood, bourbon, and some chocolate. Descent.

Bomber, 2009 (bottled 2010, #75/95). Poured near black with a shorter-lived tan head. The aroma picked up a funky dose of wild yeast, grassy notes, and lactic sourness over mostly sweet chocolate malts.. really funky and really weird.. not bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout-like. The flavor found sour, funky stuff throughout.. some vanilla and sweet cocoa at the core.. sour bourbon and funky stuff on the long, warm finish. Medium-plus bodied and sour on the palate.. this wasn’t what it was supposed to be, but it was aiight.

Shared at the bottle release of Freetail Woodicus and Bandito. Bottle 1 of 95. 2009 vintage and bottled in 2010. The beer pours a dark brown to black color with a brown head. The aroma is heavy the smoke with a little bit of funk mixed in. The flavor is similar with a lot of meaty smoke as well as some tart cherries and bourbon notes. There is also some strong oak character in the flavor. This beer is definitely infected but it still drinks fairly well. The cherries and smoke mix well together and form a unique combination. Medium to thick mouthfeel and medium carbonation.

Tasted at the big “SeaBass has got to go” tasting courtesy of thecheeseman. I like the idea of drinking barrel aged death. Cool name. It pours deep murky mahogany with weak off white head. It smells of toffee, a little bit of used oak barrel as well as sweet kind of bourbony fudge brownie. The taste is tart and kind of red wine like as well as dark roasty and super thin in body.

Bottle (2009)… Tampa “Farewell to Sebletitje” Tasting… Murky, dark brown ale with a small, creamy, off-white head. The earthen nose provides dark chocolate, espresso and damp leather. Medium to full-bodied and fatty with only a trace of carbonation. Very roasty but, more-so than any other facet of the flavor, it’s fairly sour. Definitely a bug in this barrel, but not an unpleasant tartness. Very reminiscent of the Captain Lawrence Smoke from the Oak series of porters. Interesting, actually. Finishes crisp, tangy and lightly bitter. Bottle courtesy of TheCheeseMan!

Bottle shared at Sea Bass. It’s not the worst tasting thing I’ve ever had, but it’s a soured imperial stout. Do I really need to say any more to communicate that it’s not the experience you’d expect or hope for from a rare, hard-to-find BA RIS?

Bottle @ Seabass going away party, Jan15th ’11. Courtesy of Cheeseman. Brune foncée, beige. Malt et tonneau, qcq notes de phénolique et acétone? amertume du houblon, peut être une infection venant du tonneau. Ressent aussi un peu de malt fumé et le côté bourbon reste présent quoique un peu en retrait. Je pense aussi y goûter un peu de soja, pas facile à dire si cette bouteille est infectée ou si c’est juste normal.

Bottle. Pours a black viscous body with a tan head. Smoky malt tones, light wood and peat notes. Vanilla with oak, roasted malt and bourbon + chocolate sweetness. A big boozy IS, i enjoyed it.

Bomber poured a clear dark reddish brown with a small lingering brown head. Aromas of smoke, bitter chocolate, ham and beans, vanilla and light bourbon. Palate was medium bodied and smooth. Flavors of smoke, vanilla, bitter chocolate, ham and beans and light bourbon with a smooth lingering smokey finish.

Bomber #68 at RBWG in March 2010. The pour yields a dark chocolate brown to mahogany tinted body with just a tissue-thin, dark khaki surface film. Minimal, patchy spots show on the glass, but quickly recede, leaving no hard lace behind. The aroma shows notes of dry cocoa sweetness and spent caramel, along with an off-putting, savory touch that suggests salted meat. There’s a distinct smokiness, along with warming bourbon notes and mildly buggy wood. It seems like the early signs of infection are setting in, though as faint as they may be. Flavors are more disappointing, as slightly more yeast notes take hold, clearly having dried out the cocoa beyond an ideal point. Strong barrel char imparts a very smoky character, as bourbon lends a touch of boozy, caramelized grain. There’s not much vanilla character, significantly less than most bourbon BA beers, I would say. The body is downright thin for an 11% imperial stout, lacking carbonation and seeming lifeless and watery. Something is definitely off here.

Freetail ba muerta...bit of a thin stout offering... Sourness with smoke. Blech... This has turned for the worse... Sour dark smokey malts with a huge off-putting sourness. Fair warning friends, this has not aged gracefully and an infection has certainly ensued. 7/3/5/2/9