Great Lakes Barrel-Aged Blackout Stout

Brewed by Great Lakes Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Cleveland, Ohio USA

Serve in Snifter

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12oz bottle, pours black with a small creamy beige head. Nose is roast forward, fresh coffee beans, dark chocolate, some spicy bourbon. Some smooth roasted coffee and malt roast up front in the mouth, then lots of gooey dark chocolate, nice vanilla mid to finish, and a pleasantly long alcohol heat on the tail end. Feel is fairly thin. Very smooth and creamy flavor profile, like the regular version, vanilla forward with a good fresh coffee. Very nice beer.

(12oz bottle from rayl101). Pours black with espresso head. Aroma has bourbon, vanilla, coconut, and fudge. Taste is sweet and decadent. Full-bodied with a slick texture. A little alcohol burn and warmth, yet still very smooth. A great, great beer!

Bottle thanks to goryshkewych. Deep brown/black pour with heavy, frothy tan head. Smooth roasted coconut, oaken barrel, semi-sweet chocolate, faint roast. Flavor is satin dark chocolate, light vanilla, coconut, wood with moderate roast end. Light residual sweetness, vanilla, and roast. Great improvement on the original. Barrel notes are soft, but noticeable. Wonderfully played, seamless flavor profile.

12oz bottle from mikem409. Pours very dark brown with light tan head. Aromas of bourbon with vanilla, chocolate, and some roast. Flavors of bourbon, roasted malts, faint chocolate, and booze. Body is a little thin. Solid, but this in not in the top tier of BA stouts.

From notes. First reviewed 1/31/2011. Poured from a 22 oz. bottle into a tulip. Barrel-Aged Blackout Stout pours a dark brown with a variety of light brown and ruby tints around the edges. A small off-white head starts resting on top of the beer, gradually fading to a ring around the glass. Not a big cap or any considerable lacing. Smooth bourbon takes over the aroma. Softly roasted malt, cocoa, and espresso are there as support. A little hint of smoke as well. The bourbon is definitely noticeable in the flavor as well. It is smooth and consistently present throughout each sip. Up front roasted and chocolate malts provide the malt backbone, with espresso and a hint of vanilla working with the bourbon for a great middle. The finish cleans up nicely, with further roasted malt, coffee, and more bourbon. This has a smooth, mostly creamy but lightly grainy feel. Medium carbonation and a full body, although probably medium for the style. The bourbon barrel aging helped to further the complexity of an already solid beer. This is nice, sweet, and smooth. Even with more flavors, I am not sure if I find this remarkably better than the regular Blackout Stout, which is a solid beer to start with.

2011 Bottle at Damico’s. Poours black with some head, nose is sweet and not overwhelming. First sip is smooth but flavors of yuhoo and blacl malt are mild. Finish is clean with roasted and oaky flavors.

09 Bottle shared by Levi... Aged Bourbon drinks smooth with little to no alcohol burn, actually no burn at all. Solid, but I had expected a bit more.

19 feb 2012, bottle. Mahoghany, clear, looks thin. Dark chocolate and peanuts? Thin body and fizzy. Ovaltine, raisins, vanilla w dark choc bitterness. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

2012 bottle generously sent to me by Beerman6686. Deep brown color with a thin tan foam on top. Spotty lacing. This is a really nice beer. There’s plenty of bourbon with vanilla, alcohol soaked raisins, and a bit of chocolate in the aroma. The chocolate, wood barrel notes, plum, and perhaps some caramel as well, team up with the bourbon in the flavor department. There’s some sweet vanilla there too. Just enough alcohol surfaces here to be soothing and warm going down, in a gentle way. I’m not typically a big fan of some high abv > 10% Imperial Stouts, mostly because of the chewy strong roast character they generally have, as well as their heavy nature. But I really dig BA versions such as this one. A damn fine sipper; had to slow myself down so it would in fact be a sipper.

Held on to this for about three years and it paid off. Huge vanilla aromas and favors. Alcohol has chilled. finishes a little bitter but it is hard to get past the vanilla and sweetness. All in all a pretty excePtional drink.