Great Lakes Rackhouse Ale

Brewed by Great Lakes Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale
Cleveland, Ohio USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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GABF 2006: Clear amber color with not much of a head. Bourbon and vanilla aroma with some malt trying to peak through. Huge flavor of bourbon. Then some bourbon and finishes with bourbon. That’s about all there was in the flavor, actually overall.

On tap at the GLBC BA Blackout party. I wasnt all that impressed with this one. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I took 5 or 6 shots of bourbon before I tried it but none the less it really wasnt anything special...actually it was far from special. It had some nice malt flavors, but then it was just a total clash of bourbon and overpowering sweetness. I had enough of this brew about half way through my sample of it.

On tap @ GLBC Bourbon Barrel Tasting: Hazy amber colored pour with a white head. Aroma was sweet, vanilla, oak, caramel. Very malty. Flavor, very sweet, vanilla, oak, bourbon, I picked up a little apple somewhere, caramel, and a nice bit of warming from the alcohol. But that might have been left over from the last bourbon we had. I thought this was really nice.

On tap @ GLBC Bourbon Barrel Tasting: pours a hazy amber with a head that disappears very quickly. Aromas are bourbon (maybe that has to do with all of the bourbon in the room) carmel, malty, sweet. The flavor follows very malty, carmel, oaky, vanilla, and toasted with a medium to thick creamy mouthfeel. The taste clings to the inside of my mouth before fading to an unbalanced amount of light molasses and bourbon. After a couple sips this 5 oz sample no longer becomes enjoyable. This might be tasty after cellaring for a year, but here it’s just too fresh and thus unbalanced for a barrel aged beer.

On tap at the GLBC Bourbon Barrel Tasting - Pours hazy dark amber wtih a very short offwhite head. Aroma is big of caramel, some vanilla, and a good amount of bourbon. Flavor is rich caramel. Quite malty and sweet with notes of vanilla, oak, and bourbon.. Some raisin there and maybe a touch of brown sugar.. Smooth creamy palate that seemed very mellow for a 10% beer. Alcohol hidden very well and this just fit together well. A most excellent brew in my opinion..

On tap at the GLBC bourbon tasting. Nice amber color with an off-white head. Nice full bready aroma...caramel malt, vanilla and a touch of smoke rounds it out. The flavor was malty and sweet with a fruity-hop profile to edge it all out so it wasn’t too sweet...some hot bourbon characteristics. Smooth and rich over the tounge with a mellow carbonation that seemed to work very well with everything else that was going on in this brew. I only wish they would’ve bottled this one too.

On Tap @ GLBC 10/9/06 bourbon tasting: Hazy copper w/ a thin, off white head., and lots of alcohol legs on the glass. Sweet malty and caramel with a light bourbon aroma at first. I found hints of chocolate, light vanilla woody notes, and toasty malt as it warmed. Also a very light hint of citrusy fruitiness found it’s way through all that some how. Sweet up front and goes all the way into the finish and aftertaste that way. Light bourbon flavor with toasty and caramel malt. Light raisiny fruit flavor and brown sugar flavors. Very smooth overall flavor profile, very pleasant. Low carbonation level, full body, well hidden alcohol IMHO, and a lightly dry m/f probably from the wood tannins. Smooth mellow, overall flavor. I liked this better than the BABO stout of the same age. More mellow and less raw IMO.

Tap at GLBC bourbon tasting. Aroma: Strong sweet malt aroma with notes of caramel and brown sugar. Some of the typical bourbon barrel aromas (ie vanilla and oak) are their as well. Appearance: Reddish brown body and mostly clear. Head was off-white, thin, and fleeting. No lacing. Flavor: Strong maltiness and strong sweetness. Caramel, light molasses, vanilla, and oak. Zero hop flavor, which it could have used to balance out the sweetness. Alcohol is there, but isn’t aggressive or intrusive. Palate: Medium-full mouthfeel with a nice creaminess. Moderate carbonation. Slight alcohol warming. Overall: Good, but not great. Sweetness was not balanced by anything else. Never syrupy, but just too much. The barrel aged flavors were good.

Tap at the pub on some chilly Friday afternoon in October 2005. Murky dark read body with a thin veil of off white head. Lucious nose full of vanilla, wood, booze, and carmel. Silky smooth body with very soft carbonation. Awesome barrel aged flavors. Lots more of what you would expect from the aroma: creamy wood/vanilla flavors complement the really tasty base beer. You can tell that the beer is strong, but like a nice single malt, it takes out the fire but leaves in the warmth.

This beer is outrageously potent. GLBC teamed with Jim Beam bourbon to complete this beer. It is a mixture of barrel aged Great Lakes Black-out Stout and Jim Beam Black label. Which explains the 10.0%ABV. The beer is so strong it was served in a large 12 oz snifter glass. GLBC introduced the beer at a tasting night which I missed due to work. But I had it on tap the next day in the brew pub. The color is very very nice and dark. The head was fluffy and airy, but thick. I took my first whiff and almost passed out. The aroma was so strong. The bourbon is very prevelant. I took my first gulp and the alcohol hit me hard. I could feel the alcohol immediately. But the flavor is very very good. It took a few sips to get used to, but the strong hops and malt of the stout, go great with the smoothness of 100 proff Jim Beam Black.