Lagunitas Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout

Brewed by Lagunitas Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Petaluma, California USA

Serve in Snifter

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Tap at Lagunitas. Dark brown pour with a minor white head. Bourbon and wood aroma. Palate is moderate to full. Taste is bourbon, vanilla, and some toffee. Great beer.

Wow, beer with a kick. Tastes like a Cabernet, smells like dark chocolate and spice. Enjoyed with Jeff, Kaetchen, and the boys at Lagunitas.

Draft at brewpub. Pour is dark brown with small tan head. Aroma and flavor are loaded with light roasted malt, coconut, cocoa, faint peat, light caramel, brown sugar, and faint fruit. Really good

Sample on tap at the Taproom. Medium dark brown with a small tan head. Nose was somewhat dried fruit with an overpowering slam of booze. A bit on the heavy side but enjoyable ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Draught at the Brewery. Very dark brown with lace. Huge bourbon nose, with vanilla, oak. Whiskey overpowers the beer. Sweet flavor with vanilla flavored coffee, bourbon. Decent, but almost all bourbon.

Draft on tap at Hop Juice Festival (Warrenville, IL). Huh, a fairly rare rate. Pours a murky blackish hue, opaque, though the edges show a lot of light into an iced tea, darker sun tea, hue. A near non-existent head, loose bubbles, no lacing. Aromas are sweet and roasty malts, more sweet in my book with cocoa and sweeter chocolate, toffee, roasted malts, touches of coffee, sweeter vanilla shows some good oak exposure, light Bourbon spirit presence doesn’t really show heat but gives flavor. Not the most complex stout, but certainly nice. Initial is a thicker pour, dark and a touch hot preaching cocoa and vanilla, a bigger Bourbon spirit presence comes through, making this a bit more hot up front, with roast, sweet caramel, toffee, vanilla, but thinner bodied overall. Into the backend the ABV heat sticks with significant heat and spirit, thinning out and losing much of it’s base. Anyone can barrel age their Imperial Stout.. It takes true talent to keep body and the majority of base flavors in the mix. It’s tasty, but hot and unbalanced proving that a great Bourbon barrel aged Imperial Stout is an artform. Ok, but nowhere near my top shelf versions.

Draft. Hazy dark brown, tan head. Aroma of milk chocolate. Taste is milk chocolate syrup in chocolate soda. Sweet.

On tap at KnB. Pours nearly black with tan head. There is almost no aroma on this. Some bourbon, but not much. Taste has some chocolate, vanilla and coconut flavors. Nice mouthfeel and carb.

Cask at Monk’s Kettle in SFO. Pours deep dark black with slight head. Slight bourbon to nose with coffee and molasses. Less body than one might expect, taste is thick and dark, not as complex as one might hope. A bit underwhelming.

Great creamy head. Strong awesome fermented cherry aroma. Harsh onslaught of burbon and cherries and malt. The barrel is very evident and adds a lot to this beer. Random and non-normal wood flavors are surprising. The high abv mixed with the burbon makes for a bit of a sensory shock and gives the impression of a higher abv. Great crab, left great lacing, especially for a barrel aged.