OFallon Whiskey Barrel Smoked Porter

22oz bomber courtesy of STLStoutAddict poured into a tulip. Bottle labeled April 10, 2008, #112 of 960. Pours almost completely black in the glass with mahogany showing through the edges under a small creamy off-white head that lingers on top with a good collar and a swirl of bubbles on top. The aroma is a wonderful blend of smoked hickory and bourbon with hints of vanilla and chocolate. There is also a heavy dose of molasses sweetness coming out as it warms. I was blown away by the away honestly and could just smell this thing all night. The taste is a bit of a let down after the aroma as it’s slightly more watered down. There is a heavy bourbon flavor up front with some roasted malts and chocolate underneath. The smoke is present as well, but the flavor isn’t as full as I was hoping for. The mouthfeel is light to medium bodied and close to watery, but not quite. The carbonation is soft and the body isn’t quite heavy enough to support the low carbonation. I really enjoyed this beer and the aroma had me thinking this would be a stunner, but, as it is, it’s just a really solid beer. i think I may prefer the regular smoked over this, but it’s close.

This pours nearly black with brown/ruby highlights when held up to the light. The head is fizzy at first, like a cola, but dies down into a resilient full crown. Very nice lacing. Smell is very light in the whiskey note, which is nice to not have it beat you in the face every time. Smoke, tobacco, some light chocolate, and vanilla, but that may be a product of the whiskey. Taste is very very good, just the right amount of whiskey. When I have a barrel aged beer, I like when the barrel flavor compliments, not overtakes the characteristics of the base beer, and in this case, you have an already good base with O’Fallon smoke, with some just a little more than subtle hints of whiskey. This is really great, and goes down so easy. Mouth is thin to medium, which is unfortunate because I think a little more body could have elevated this into the stratosphere. It works and I can’t really deduct points because it is to style, but my thoughts none the less. Wow, this is excellent. Very rarely will I trade for a beer more than once, but this may be the exception.

22oz bomber 8/5/09 (Wind and Cheese Place-St. Louis)-Pours a dark brown with a sone finger loose tan head. Aroma of smoke, bacon, and whiskey. Taste of smoke, bacon, wood, and sweetness. This light to medium bodied brew was lacking in the bourbon flavor but was still well balanced and quite tasty.

Wax-topped bomber. Pours cloudy dark brown with a lacy tan head. Vanilla, smoke and chocolate aroma. Soft smoke and wood notes over coffee and chocolate. Woody finish.

Bomber. The body was perfectly black with a medium tan, yet thin head. The aroma was obviously smoky up front with mossy old wood. There was also a light touch of vanilla and peaches. The body was fairly flat and I felt that this detracted from the mouth feel. There was a strong taste of smoke, especially lingering in the aftertaste. Also, I got some woody notes with toffee and tobacco. I want to taste other flavors here, but the smoke dominates. There is a lingering licorice flavor, but it mostly comes through in the aftertaste. Decent, but I don’t get the hype.

Bottle Pours out a dark brown almost black topped with a small brown head. Aroma of smoked bacon with a little oak. Tast was more smoke, pit fruit and some whiskey.

Bottle at Pre DLD ... black ... rich roast malts with a little toffee nose .. soft rich malts ... little whiskey ... rather non descript

Bottle at pre-DLD shared by someone. Aroma is of big smoke and charred black malts. The flavor is smoky, hammy, barbeque, with a pretty balanced and light oakiness to it. Nice.