Olde Hickory The Event Horizon

Brewed by Olde Hickory Brewery
Style: Imperial Stout
Hickory, North Carolina USA

Serve in Snifter

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Pours pitch black with a finger mocha head. Dissolves quickly but leaves tremendous lacing Smell is of rich chocolate, bourbon and slight hint of coffee. Wonderful. Taste is very creamy. Nice chocolate flavor. Nice toasted coconut flavor and very slight bourbon, oak wood flavor on the back end. Thick but not too thick. Perfectly carbonated. Dangerously drinkable. Poured a couple while I was at Duckworth’s. Couldn’t get enough of it. The alcohol is very well hidden even though it’s not a "huge" beer. This is my favorite beer and can’t wait til it’s released again at the end of the year. IF you haven’t tried this beer, do whatever you can to try it. It’s worth the hype and some.

Aroma:There is a huge chocolate aroma on this beer. Next comes a great bourbon undercurrent. There is also a little vanilla. This aroma is amazing, I must have spent 5 minutes just smelling it. Appearance:Black, deep mocha colored head with OK retention. Taste:The flavor is much like the aroma, lots of chocolate up front, and then comes the bourbon. The bourbon flavor isn’t huge and hot, it’s definitely there but well balanced. On the aftertaste, there’s some vanilla and dark fruits. Palate:The body on this beer is thick and creamy, and there’s a little astringency towards the aftertaste. The carbonation is low to medium, but well suiting of this beer. Overall:This is a wonderful chocolate beer that’s smooth and really well balanced. There’s not much age on this beer, but it’s already amazing, and I can only imagine how this one will age.

A: On draft and from 22 oz bomber this beer pours solid black with a brown 2 inch head that fades quickly. S: The beers smells like a bourbon stout should with dark roasted malts, chocolate, smooth bourbon and some residual molasses. T: The taste is what does it for me with this beer. You are assaulted with the aforementioned malts and chocolate initially. The taste develops into a nice vanilla/coconut bourbon that is still holding onto the chocolate. And finally it finishes sweet with the honey and chocolate following through. These guys did a great job of making something just complex enough and not over the top that it is actually very drinkable! M: The mouthfeel is on par with some of the best bourbon stouts that I have had. The carbonation level seems to be just right but I would still like it to be a little more viscous. D: At 8.5 ABV and the taste not fatiguing your palate this beer is very drinkable. Kudos to Olde Hickory for a great job on this beer, highly recommended.

Thanks to kubrick215 for bringing this to our tasting. Pours pitch black and comletely opaque with a two finger frothy dark mocha head. Good retention, slowly fading into a lasting ring that coats the glass with chunks of soapy lacing. Complex aroma with a good balance of earthy hops, sweet alcohol, honey and bourbon barrel. Hints of earthy pine up front along with a nice, prominent bourbon character. Hints of sweet spirit and oak as well as a healthy dose of vanilla in the nose. Viscous, chewy medium body that’s on the filler end with lots of luscious, silky chocolate malt, a very prominent hop forward bitterness, earthy oak, vanilla, honey and almost the perfect amount of bourbon. I’m shocked how hop forward this beer ie with a nice combination of bitter earthy pine qnd sweet citrus notes. This is countered mid-palate by a sweet chocolate malt, honey and licorice flavor. In addition, there is the perfect touch of barrel aged notes, especially sweet liquor, earthy oak and tons of vanilla and marshmallow. I was expecting much more of a bourbon bomb but this beer is incredibly well balanced, complex and absolutely delicious. This beer absolutely lives up to the hype and is very similar to ’07 Darkness. I know this beer has high ratings but I was a bit skeptical going in. I have to say this beer destroyed my expectations and is really amazing. Please drink this fresh to enjoy it at it’s fullest potential.

Sampled at GABF 2011. Black pour. Aroma of licorice and dark fruit detectable from 3 feet away. Dark chocolate and dark fruit flavor with a touch of espresso. Very nicely done and a true WOW beer.

3200th rating. 22 oz. bottle via BA trade. Most recent release, late 2011, I believe. Pours a deep, opaque brown with almost no head. Big, rich aroma of vanilla, chocolate, oak, roast, dark fruits, caramel, and bourbon that provides a little bit of warmth. The flavor hits all the same notes, with rich roasted malts, lightly charred oak, vanilla, dark fruits, caramel, honey, and molasses. So rich and yet so well-balanced. Finishes roasty after starting more mellow. Medium-full bodied, with moderate carbonation and a rich, roasty, smooth mouthfeel. Man, this was good. My "Best in Show" for the tasting at which I opened it.

22oz, black waxed bomber, courtesy of a generous SC/NC trader on BA. pretty excited to try this one, actually. pours a deep, rich, oily black with a soft, one-finger, dark mocha head leaving beautiful, oily legs and drips of lace. aroma is absolutely stunning with huge notes of dark chocolate, molasses, burnt brown sugar, and rich oak backed by beautifully subtle notes of PvW bourbon, roasted malts, dark fruit tannins, and honey with just hints of expresso and vanilla as it warms. flavor is superb as well with the smooth, rich, subtle spice and wood notes of the bourbon barrels adding a perfect background to rich, dark chocolate, roasted malts, dark fruits, and coffee with hints of cedar wood, vanilla, earth, and sticky molasses on the back end. palate is perfectly smooth and silky with light carbonation and a richness found in only the best BA stouts out there with a subtle, smokey, spicy twist on the swallow that leaves just a whisper of bourbon and dark chocolate on the finish. overall, i was not sure about all the hype surrounding this beer but it damn sure did a good job of living up to it. outstanding BA imperial stout.

bottle courtesy of spencedb, thanks a ton for this this awesome surprise! this is a very nice brew all around. the pour is very black with a dark brown head that is cascading, plentiful, and leaves lots of spotting and thick porous lacing. the aroma is deep and dark definitely, lots of dark pitted fruits, raisins, prunes, cherries, currants, tons of bittersweet chocolate, cacao powder, tobacco, molasses, etc. the taste is similar, and aside from it all the PVW barrels add a very nice note to this one. the base beers shines thropugh wonderfully, and is very nice, and it has a very nicely done barrel profile, not overdone by even the most discerning ba critics standards. chocolate, marshmallows, slight chicory, lots of earthy deep notes, tons of fruit and then a nice barrel around it all, really helping the beer shine. i love over-barreled beers, but this beer really is a very nice example of what it can add. the palate is thick, oily, tarry, sweet, bitter, creamy, all very nicely balanced as well as the flavor. great stuff, not sure why its not getting more hype.

This stuff smells like straight up chocolate syrup; 90% cacao dark chocolate and vanilla. Delicious flavor has tons more chocolate. Not sticky sweet, but very rich and light hints of toasted nuts. Just superb.

Aroma of smokey coffee, molasses and brown sugar. Pours black and thick with a lot of head. Taste is super sweet with chocolate caramel shining through. Liked this a lot.