Full Sail Black Gold Imperial Stout Bourbon Barrel Aged

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

Serve in Snifter

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bottle at the Tally tasting, pours black with a medium brown head. Aroma is strong bourbon and alcohol. Flavor is rich chocolate malts, booze, oak, some licorice. Not bad, but very hot.

09 bottle. 10.5% It pours very thick and dark brown with a medium sized light brown head that shrinks to a ring around the glass. The aroma has a lot of bourbon alcohol heat with some nuttiness, wood and vanilla. The flavor is mildly tart and tannic, but very rich on the palate with notes of fudge, raisins and wood. The bourbon flavor is pretty subdued, but theres still a lot of heat to this one. It has a dirty finish with kind of a muddled malt profile.

Best beer I’ve ever had. the one to beat. so many flavors - very rich without being heavy.

Draft. Pours black gold with a thin beige film. Big aroma of sweet vanilla, roast, malt, and boubony fantastic-ness. Very sweet, full, vanilla-ed, roasty flavor. Full body, creamy texture, soft carbonation, and a hoppy, roasty, malty finish. Excellent.

2009 vintage. Pours black with minimal head. Smell is smokey, chocolate, raisin, and deep red fruit. Bit boozy. Taste is slightly vanilla, a lot of fruity characteristics, and an odd finish. Decent drinkability. Full bodied. I remember it being better on tap.

Originally reviewed: 5/9/09. Vintage 2009. Poured into my snifter a deep molasses black with very little tan head on top. Just a sheet coated this one. No retention, no lacing, no sticky globs. Disappointing. Smell is of big bourbon and vanilla notes. Some almond, butterscotch, and dark chocolate in there as well. This smells like a dessert. Very sweet smelling. Mouthfeel was a tad slick, but had a nice crisp pop to it that was pleasant on the mouth. Flavor was of definitive bourbon, vanilla, nuts, cocoa, and finished slightly bitter. I must not be into the bourbon too much, as this was hard to get through. Per Andrew’s recommendation, I waited until this warmed enough to "kill off" some of the bourbon notes, but it was there in full force. Still, this was a great beer. I wish now, I would have aged it a bit more before consuming. Ah well. Thanks, Andrew, for the opportunity to give this one a try, but I gotta give the nod to the original Stout, pre-aged.

Smell of bitter chocolate, vanilla. Nice body. Almost port-like; very dark chocolate, bourbon and rum-soaked raisins. In my world beer doesn’t get better that this.

Pitch black, opague colour with no head. Smells peat, oak, chocolate, vanilla and swet. Tastes red fruits, vanilla and chocolate. Bit thin, but a great aftertastes.

From notes. First reviewed 10/7/2011. Poured from a 22 oz. bottle into a tulip. Thanks to readbaron for bringing this over. The pour is maroon mahogany color with ruby edges and a small cap that neither retains well nor leaves any real lace. The aroma is nice. Bourbon, some alcohol, oak, chocolate malt, and roast coffee. The flavor really differs from the aroma, in a bad way. Roasted and chocolate malt should be there, but hide behind a bourbon and ethyl alcohol front. Oak tannins come in later, but there is no real depth to this beer. Most of what I taste here is off flavors. It is noticeably thin right away. The oak is overdone, leaving my mouth feeling astringent. The alcohol provides some bite on the tongue. Not a lot of good things going right with this beer after I get past the aroma. It was tough to finish a glass.

The nose is full of chocolate, coffee, and oak and boozy. The flavor starts with a lot of rich chocolate, espresso, and molasses sweetness. Bourbon notes come next with a light dose of vanilla and booze in the end. Quite tasty.

22 oz bottle via trade. Pours a rich thicker black pour, near opaque, with a dark and thicker edges, a richer tannish head dies to a ring, laces small. Aromas are a decent dose of oak and spirit, gentle Bourbon, kisses of vanilla, cocoa, and caramel. A touch of char, coconut, and biscuits. Inviting, nothing overbearing. With growing spirit as it warms, vanilla. Nice aromas, not complex, but well integrated. Initial is fuller bodied but not thick, offering cocoa and sweet toffee, caramel. Touches of biscuits, gentle toast and roast, more cocoa, and some dark fruit, coconut from the barrels. Middle is rich flavored, but not thick preaching cocoa and barrel, chocolate, and spirit. Silky on the palate as a gentle heat grows, biscuits and toffee, touches of coffee grow, a touch more desserty. Backend offers touches of coffee and oak, still more barrel. This isn’t complex but works well, sufficient body and flavors. Good really.. Thinned a bit but pretty enjoyable.