OFallon Whiskey Barrel Smoked Porter

Pours dark brown with a foamy tan head. Heavy carbonation. Aroma is of roasted malt, chocolate, wood, leather, and smoked meat. Taste is of roasted malt, chocolate, wood, sweaty leather, smoky meat. Has a very hot, almost peppery finish. Body is surpirsingly light, bordering on watery. Drinking this beer cold, is like licking the floorboards of a dingy dive bar. It needs to be room temperature to enjoy at all. Barrel aging this beer did not help it at all. A massive dissapointment.

(22oz. bottle) Pours a dark brown body with a small beige head. Aroma of whiskey, roasted malt, chocolate, sausage, and wood. Flavor of whiskey, wood, chocolate, caramel, and roasted malt.

Bomber with wax. Looks a lot like cola upon pour... carbonation sticking to the side of the glass, dark brown color, fizzy head.... Aroma is a bit odd... has a lot of prune and sweetness with just whiffs of smoke and charcoal and maybe a touch of oak. From here on out, this is a story of two beers... the just out of the bottle, fairly cold one, (blech!) and the "sat around warming and breathing for 10 minutes or so one (not bad). Originally, flavors seemed to have both rusty and vinous subplots which pulled the beer apart at the seams. That said, after a few minutes of doing nothing, flavors seemed to moderate a bit and some of the junk flavors seemed to disappear. At this point, it was a nice smoked porter (not as heavy on the smoke/charcoal as my memories of the non-barrel aged version) with just a hint of a wood & whiskey flavoring. Pretty darn good at this point.... pretty awful at first.

bottle, thanks to bu11zeye, black brown pour with skim head, aromas of sweet smoke, flavors of whiskey, chocolate and prune, delectable

bottle thanks to bu11zeye. black pour with a thin round head. nose of smoke and whiskey. great on the palate with a heavy smoke flavor and a light whiskey finish. surprisingly smooth and easy to drink actually.

Dark brown pour, small head around edges. Aroma is very much like beef jerky. Smoke, booze, malt and bacon. Flavor goes back and forth between smoke, booze and a slightly toasty porter. This is very unique and very much worth seeking out. Gregis hooked me up with this and I say THANKS!! Cheers.

I gotta say this beer is pretty damn good and well underrated and I think its important to remember that the base beer is a medium light bodied porter, not a stout. Pours a thinner very dark brown with a small frothy sudsy beige head. Smells way different than the base beer, bacon and salty smoked ham like an authentic rauchbier, a bit of roast and sweeter bourbon. First taste is super creamy milk and dark chocolates, some barrel, touch of smoke, lots of dark roast, not quite coffee, super creamy finishing with lots of sweeter charred bourbon barrel. Really great drinkability, so creamy, medium bodied with finer bubbly carbonation. Amazing balance and drinkability... the bourbon doesn’t taste cheap and really blends well.... I love it.

<i>22oz waxed bottle #35/960 - labeled April 08: </i> I believe this was in the 23 year Pappy van Winkle barrels. I tried this at a tasting in St. Louis a few months ago and it was more integrated and well balanced. The slightly aged version seems to have began to fall apart. Pours a reddish black with a big whiskey and chocolate nose. The body is too light to support the barrel though and the body becomes very thin as it approaches room temp. All whiskey and wood and very little smoke or porter below. Bummer. I have averaged my two tastings to get my rating for now.