Great Lakes Barrel-Aged Blackout Stout

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

Appearance: Poured a midnight brown with no head. Aroma: Coffee, roast, vanilla and toffee. Taste: Oak, bourbon, roast and chocolate. Mouthfeel: Full bodied, but no syrupy. Overall: Slightly more interesting that regular Blackout, but not a mind blowing barrel aged beer for me.

Bottle, Possibly 2007: Pours flat and settles a dark brown with the nose a mix of graham cracker, vanilla, bourbon, chocolate cake, and with an overall sweetness and essence of authentic black licorice. Flavors concentrated on chocolate cookie with heavily roasted coffee and a touch of vanilla. THe bourbon flavors are evident and really come through nicely without it being a bourbon bomb. Bitterness is nicely balancing in the finish. There’s a nice coffee grind character that works remarkably well. The beer balances the different flavor components extremely well.

bottle thanks to daknole, shared with myself. well, barreling this beer did wonders! whyat was a solid impy is now complimented by a new subtlety of oak and skmoke notes, mellowed out to the point of delightfulness. very nice pout, viscous, but i love that a nice swirl easliy generates a 1/2 finger dark brown head at any point! a very nicely balanced beer. the regular is nice, but the oak is like the missing piece of the puzzle for this beer.

In short: A moderately bourbonny, woody, roasted and fruity imperial stout. Kick-ass.
How: Bottle 22oz. Consumed when almost 1 year of age side-by-side with regular Blackout of same age. Sent to me by MrChopin, thanks a lot Kevin
The look: Black body topped by short-lived tan head
In long: Compared to most Bourbon Barrel aged imperial stouts the nose is only moderately bourbonny. Side-by-side with a bottle of the regular Blackout of the same age I found the taste of the BA version a little more intense. A lot of wood, moderate bourbon, dried and fresh dark fruits, medium roasted level, alcohol warmth, some vanilla, chocolate cake, burnt brown sugar. Most BA imperial stouts are very different from the regular version but I found the BA Blackout not so different from the regular version. I suspect a re-blend. Quite easy to drink for a BA imperial stout, I went through my 22oz bottle like if it was a session stout. What I found very surprising in my comparison with the regular Blackout is that I found the BA version a as roasted and a little dryer (probably the wood barrel). It is usually the other way around. Unlike many BA stouts this one didn’t have too much vanilla, was not too boozy. I preferred the more complex BA Blackout a tiny bit over the regular Blackout and at the end I gave the BA version a big 0.2 higher than the regular version. 0.2 is no big deal. Or so I tried to explain to the officer who gave me the breathalyser test.

Yes, it pours pitch black. It forms a head of about one-fingers worth of light brown colored foam. This dissipates, rather quickly, leaving a thin, filmy, surface covering. The lacing is in tiny spots, but rather sticky. No surprises in the nose. Big notes of chocolates and coffees. Good presence of oakiness and roasted malt notes. Light hints of booze and dark fruits. Good god, that’s good. This is super balanced and delicious. Dark roasted coffee beans, some of them covered in dark chocolate, are having a great time swimming around in the chocolate milk pool. The lifeguard, brown sugar, who is wearing his famous caramel bathing suit, dips in from time to time, just to check things out. The figs and plums are sunbathing by the side of the pool, while the cherries are sitting on the edge, dangling into the milky goodness. Someone is having a cookout, because I get notes of oak and hints of smoke, also. This one is full-bodied with a mild level of carbonation. It has a light creaminess to it, which makes it very silky-smooth and lucious. Okay, the 9.00%abv helps it have a mild warming effect, on the way down. Other than that though, the abv is almost undetected. The smoothness, of body and flavor, make this one super easy to drink. If anything, I’d say that this beer is probably under-hyped. It’s that good.

Got to try a bottle of this recently. Colour... very dark brown with a thin tan head. Nose... oooohhhh baby! A helluva lotta creme brulee with plenty of chocolate thrown in as well. Palate... sweet, yet bitter! Burnt sugar, dark brown sugar, dark molasses, roasted malt, and a sumptuously long finish!

I am not a fan of barrel-aged beer but this is a fine example. Just tasted a sample at the Great Lakes Brewery. Would not drink an entire beer but that is based on my preferences. Perfect dark color, strong barrel aroma. Tastes like Kentucky bourbon. Not for the faint of heart. If you like barrel-aged beers or bourbon, you will enjoy this stout.