Full Sail Black Gold Imperial Stout Bourbon Barrel Aged

Brewed by Full Sail Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Hood River, Oregon USA

Finally get to try this...thanks for the 22 oz. bottle Scrizzz. Beer was very viscous while pouring. Not much head at all, but an off-white head sits on top for a few seconds before fading away. Wow, the aroma has one of the strongest, if not the strongest, aroma of bourbon I have ever smelled. Bourbon is so powerful, nothing else really comes through. Wished more of the imperial stout aromas came through, but I am not going to complain about a strong bourbon aroma. Wow, a lovely and creamy bourbon flavor. Again, the bourbon is exceedingly powerful in this beer. Touches of vanilla are everywhere, but this is to be expected with bourbon. A nice novelty bourbon beer. If I want a nice bourbon beer this is the one to have! Awesome bourbon beer.

Bomber from my boy Sparky27. Pours very dark brown with one finger tan head. Aroma is heavy with bourbon and vanilla with some roasted malt and chocolate. Flavor is bourbon, vanilla, oak, caramel, and roasted chocolate malts. Solid RIS but aroma is much more pleasant the than flavor. This is a very solid brew but does not stack up against some of the upper echelon BA RIS. Solid brew with no negatives as far as I am concerned.

Once again, thanks goes out to acertain for this one! Pours opaque...black with yellowish brown head that dissapates to a fine film. The aroma has what one might expect: vanilla, alchohol, oak and a bit of smoke. The barrel aging really seems to have taken over the aroma...it’s hard to find the roasted malt as well as any coffee, dark fruit or chocolate notes. The flavor is a bit more balanced; while the bourbon, vanilla, and coconut seem to run the show, the smoke, dark chocolate and coffee elements are a lot more prominent. This isn’t to say that there still isn’t balance issues, they’re just not as big. Big, malty and sweet in the front...kind of juicy or oily through the tounge. Finishes with a bittersweet, warming burn that kind of lingers. The barrel aging once again made the overall body a bit thin, but I think that happens with the best of them. Overall pretty good, but it has some balance flaws...but that’s okay...I really love bourbon.

Had a big sample of this at the ORF pre-release tasting. Thanks SpencerDB for sharing! Holy god. This beer kicks ass. It is one of the smoothest, creamiest, easy to drink beers I’ve ever encountered. It pours jet black with a scary dark brown head. Aroma is licorice, anise, huge bourbon presence, dark chocolate truffles, vanilla extract, caramel. Taste is buttery smooth and rich, lots of mellowed out warming bourbon, rich chocolates. Absent is what plagues imperial stouts: too much cheap coffee, roast, ash, alcohol. This feels like it has been aging for 2 or more years. Overall, I ’d say this was the highlight of the ORF tasting apart from the DR BA Baltic Porter.

Aroma is coffee and roasty and slightly vanilla. Soda-like fizziness with a creamy head. Taste is cream, bitter, slightly buttery vanilla finish. Kind of thin for an imperial stout. Just eh.

Huge bourbon barrel essence. Opaque black body with a soft brown head. Lots of burnt malt character - wood, smoke coffee - but the bourbon was overpowering, as what the alcohol, which was a little over-the-top.

Bottle: Complex nose with licorice, vanilla, oak, flowers, and chocolate; slightly fruity and mellow whiskey notes; delightful, creamy flavor and palate. It also has lots of praline, coffee, vanilla and smooth whiskey highlights. Smooth and prevalent spicy and earthy hoppiness. Though they are a very solid brewery, I don’t particularly care for alot of Full Sail’s offerings; this, however, is easily one of the best impy stouts ever. Phenomenal complexity. Amazing palate. Stellar balance. What a gem.

Reminded me of GL BA Blackout stout. It had a olive taste to it, salty and strange. It was pretty good though. A bit of chocolate in there for sure as well as a bit of alcohol.