Full Sail Top Sail Imperial Porter Bourbon Barrel Aged

Formerly brewed at Full Sail Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
Hood River, Oregon USA

2007 bottle. Fruity, vinous aroma with chocolate, cocoa, vanilla, bourbon. Interesting flavor of cocoa, with bourbon, vanilla, dark and dried fruits. Dry, roasty, smoky flavor, with quite a lot of bourbon barrel. Good but not great.

Pours pitch black and completely opaque without even the slightest of lighter colored hues when held to a light source and a two finger frothy light beige head that fades into a lasting ring. Sporadic spots of lacing left behind. Lots of bourbon in the nose with lots of earthy oak and deep roasted malt. Hints of bittersweet dark chocolate, burnt toast, smoke, roasted coffee bean,vanilla, toffee, licorice, leathery malt and sweet alcohol. Smells pretty complex but the oak is the most prominent characteristic followed by the heavy bourbon presence. Slightly chewy medium body that is a bit lighter bodied than I expected with lots of hot bourbon and earthy oak flavor lingering throughout over the dark roasted malt notes. Underneath the strong bourbon flavor is a strong roasted malt profile that is slightly smokey with hints of bittersweet dark chocolate, roasted nut, coffee bean, burnt toast, licorice, sweet alcohol, sweet alcohol and subtle vanilla. Again, the oak presence is very strong adding a nice earthiness and level of complexity. A bit too hot still with too much of a bourbon presence for my liking and lots of warmth in the finish. This beer could be a little more balanced and is surprisingly very hot after over a year of aging. It definitely needs a bit more time to mellow out.

bottle courtesy of kenb, thanks man! pours a nice dark brown to black with brown foam that fades fairly quickly and leaves nice spotting and lacing. aroma has fairly subtle hints of chocolate, bourbon, molasses and vanilla, but mostly has a classic roasty porter aroma with some more oakey notes to it. taste is roasty and chocolately, with a lil more oak and bourbon coming through. dates, figs and slight prune and raisin character stand up more in the finish, while the rest is a sweeter vanilla, wood, and maple melange. the finish is nice and roasty, dry and biter, with just a hint of thick sweetness from the barrels to balance it. a nice beer from them, probably the best i’ve had to date. it’s very smooth for the abv, can’t hardly notice. between that and the slightly thinner body than an impy stout this goes down very easily and quickly.

10th October 2008. GABF. Sweet chocolate in this porter followed by a lovely smooth bourbon. Sweet dry finish.

Bottle:   Black as night, moderate to large light brown head, foamy, nice lacing.   Looks superb!   Bourbon, vanilla, graham cracker, Oak, and even a little vinous on the nose.   Smells delicious!   Does seem a bit hot, certainly Bourbon is the strongest.   Certainly Bourbon oriented on the tongue, some vanilla and woody notes, also graham cracker and perhaps even a little bit of campfire or ash.   However, the underlying beer is rather thin.   I recall the regular Top Sail being a bit meatier.   Its like this one was thinned out or something.   Finish is warming, flavors are fairly complex, but the beer itself seems a little hollow or shallow.   Its enjoyable, but no malts to carry this one to the finish.   Overpriced at $10 a bottle.   Re-tweak and make it much bigger in body and mouthfeel and then we got something.   Underlying Porter isn’t all that noticeable.   Another case of a weak base aged in Bourbon barrels.   I like my Bourbon, but I like my beer better.   Good, but I think a little over-rated.

22, capped and foiled. Looks like this has about two years on it, which jibes with how long the bottle has probably been sitting in the closet. Pours a jet black with a dense, creamy, somewhat sudsy tan head and massive strings of webby lace. Very nice showing for ten months in the barrel and two years in glass. Big chocolatey nose with a quite forceful bourbon chaser working in on its heels.Creamy medium body, soft and understated carb. Roasty, chocolatey, softly oaky, and powerfully bourbony mid-palate. Long bourbony chocolatey finish. Very appealing and in very good shape.

2008 vintage bomber, aged over a year. A dark, mahogany colored body is almost black in hue, crowned by a tall, spongy head of light brown foam. Dense, solid rings of lacing circle the glass, coating it well. The nose is significantly more fruity than expected, notes of earthy fig and dark raisin intertwined amongst burnt caramel malt and notes of sweet dark chocolate. Woody oak lends that signature Kentucky sour mash twang, imparting loads of vanilla into the fold. Flavors follow suit, largely dark chocolate based, again loaded with fig and various other dark fruits. Caramel and toffee bring further sweetness, while the vanilla laden bourbon plays a complimentary backup role. The palate is lightly carbonated and feels a little thin, no doubt the workings of the barrel, though there’s virtually no alcoholic burn on the way down. Overall, a very solid brew, though a little more roast certainly wouldn’t hurt.

22oz bottle thanks to triplethreat. Black with a tan head. Subtle bourbon, sweet malt, and light coffee in the aroma. The flavor is dry cocoa, dark-roast coffee and mellow bourbon. Nice mocha porter thing going on with just a touch of barrel compliment. Medium-full body, medium carbonation, and a modest alcohol bite. Lower on the bourbon with more porter character showing, but has a nice balance.