Iron Hill Bourbon Porter

Date: 10/11/2007
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewfest, GABF
Words: Media PA

opaque brown, frothy tan head, sweet bourbon and chocolate aroma, rich sweet chocolate flavor enhanced by the bourbon, touch of dry dark chocolate,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 14/20
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: ***/4

On tap at the 04 Kennett Square BF. Poured a dark black with an off white head. Oaky, bourbon and smokey aroma. Chocolate and light vanilla in the taste as well. Smells a little better than it tastes. Thinner body. 9 4 7 3 16

Had this multiple times and each time I enjoyed it more. Increased the numbers. Nice wood, vanilla and bourbon mix!

Draft at West Chester. This one is nitrogenated, with a dark burnt sienna pour and a super creamy head. Big aroma of malt, vanilla, oak, bourbon, caramel. Tastes very complex, with a super smooth finish. Lots of flavors intermingling here, including malt, oak, some chocolate, licorice, and berries, and finishing bourbon, oak, vanilla, and subdued rauch elements. If you live within 2 hours of an Iron Hill, do yourself a favor and make a visit. Their beers just keep getting better and better, and the food is out of this world. Hats off to West Chester brewer Chris LaPierre. Yeah, man!

GABF 2007: Listed as Media, PA location. Poured a dark brown color with a tan head. The aroma was decent with some barrel, vanilla and lightly sweet roasted malt. the bourbon in the flavor ran from front to back but didn’t overpower. Vanilla, sweet and malty.

750mL bottle shared by Egajdzis at BCTC ’06, fresh out of the barrels, apparently.
Fizzy but somewhat lasting tan head is initially one-finger high and does manage to provide some lacing at the top of the glass. Recedes fairly quickly to partial cover. Body is a dark brown/coal with deep mahogany notes and a glowing ruby-peach tone on the edges in the light. Not the most hazy of beers, but certainly still a low clarity.
The nose has an odd mix of vinous notes from the barrel that slowly smooth out in to chocolate and vanilla bourbon notes (though I think the chocolate is coming from the malt actually). Certainly not overdone in the nose, the wood definitely being prevalent, but it is by no means a boozy, sharp, raucous aroma. An argument did arise (spurred by me) as to whether it was too barrel-influenced, my opinion being that though the bourbon was not overdone, the wood tannins still dominated the aroma a bit too much. Anyways, I guess I have a very high sensitivity to any barrel character that plays a major role in a beer. I did get some chewy chocolate-toffee notes, and a definite sweet malt feel, but it just seemed a bit drowned out by the barrel.
Dry barley notes, lightly roasty and vinous sit poignantly on the tip of the tongue, as the liquid slowly seeps in to the mouth, ushered on by light carbonation, creating a very wet feeling. Gooey chocolate peppered by wood tannins and drying vanilla notes all come to somewhat of a balance, but there is a high amount of ester/phenol activity throughout, keeping things dry and at the same time, very fruity. The combo of the fruitiness with the vinousness and then dry finish pushes this one a little out of sync with what I would like to see in a barrel-aged porter. While the body isnt watery, per se, I could stand a bit more to sink your teeth in to. But you can’t deny the chocolate malt and great level of base malt extraction. And you could tell the filtration was low, so it’s hard to be too critical. Certainly a well-done beer, I guess I’d just like them to ease off on the barrel a bit more. Alcohol combines with esters lightly on the finish, but is otherwise not a factor. A moderately bready, dry yeast character is quite noticeable as well and adds a fresh depth to the flavor.