Paddock Wood Cherry Barrel Full of Monkeys

Brewed by Paddock Wood Microbrewery
Style: Imperial Stout
Saskatoon, Canada

Serve in Snifter

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

Bottle. Near black body, soft light brown head. Aroma is surprisingly sour, with strong support from the rich roasty stout. More sour than trule cherry, slightly acetic, a little funky. All this shares a nice balance with the excellent base beer. Almost like a kriek lambic/RIS blend. This won’t appeal to everyone, but I loved it. A completely different beer than the original, very cool.

Pours a deep brown/light black color with a dense, creamy deep tan head. Aroma has a light cherry nose to it, notes of chocolate, touch of roasted bitterness and some light sweet toffee notes. Flavor starts off with a solid tart cherry presence but is quickly moved into a light chocolate covered cherries flavor, mild bitterness from the dark roast and some deep Merlot-wine like flavors and some light anise flavor at the very end. Body is light/modest with a good bit of dryness and some alcohol comes through at the end. Overall a bit more winey flavor than I had expected but still pretty good. I think I prefer the non-cherry version a lot more.

(355ml bottle) Courtesy of Left4Beer. Nose of ash, cherry. Very gritty, heavy malt, very tart, cherry pit. Interesting. 6/3/6/3/13

Dark chocolate, with a thin brown film floating on top. Aroma is mild, chocolate, sour cherry, hints of banana. Got distracted for 20 minutes and the aroma morphed in to a stronger vanilla sent. Beer might be slightly old. Sour tasting for the style. Chocolate, mild cherry, cold freezer, banana, weak bitterness in the finish. Dry with weak coffee.

Flat, thick sweet. Cherries bourbon, tons of dark chocolate. Uber rounded, so enjoyable. Not super deep, but hits all the right the points.

Single bottle purchased from Zyn Liquor in Calgary, AB on 09/01/2012. Colour: Black with some of the darkest head I have ever seen in a beer (just like its non-cherry version I believe) Nose: Pounds of toast and grains. An underlying tartness-sour nose is constant (surely the cherry influence). Big oak comes out after much swirling. Dry bark and hints of campfire smoke. Again complex like its cherry-less counterpart but much more balanced. Taste: Medium-light sweet, medium-light bitter, medium-high sour. The cherry influence really calms the bitter bite and adds a bit of sweetness to ease the ABV percentage. The sourness builds up through the palate and is near puckering by the end. Cherry tastes authentic because of the tartness. All this is accompanied by more roasting and toasting of all things beer. Great stuff!

Bottle - Chocolate, cherries and an alcohol finish. Opaque black with a thin brown head. Rich and smooth, dark chocolate and sour cherries. Nicely balanced, but not something you could have more than 1 of. A great desert beer.

355ml brown bottle. Black pour, opaque. head is caramel coloured, sticky lace. Nose has some cherry fruit, some tang. Taste has tangy cherry, big roasted malt, sweet chocolate. Finishes drier, roast, woody barrel, faint coffee, some lingering cherry tang. Full body, smooth and light carbonation. Alcohol blends in well. Very nice, would like to have all three of these Monkey beers in a side by side.

Inky black goodness, modest medium dark head with some thickness, wonderful ropy lacing. I’m being lazy - here’s the goods in the nostrils: warm bourbon goodness, mint, raisin, cherry that faded from early sniffs, some roast, hint of alcohol. Pretty good but I’m not sold on the cheery addition. That being said I grew to appreciate it as it was well put together. The taste is also decent but I am not fond of the cherry side especially the long, tart aftertaste. Bourbon, alcohol breathe in bite (more so when warm), oily slickness, molasses, burnt brown sugar, sourness. Oily finish with long roast and tart dryness that lingers on the finish. Twas ok.

Another great beer in this series...not quite as much punch and barrel as the original, but a nice woody and earthy flavor throughout. The pour is purely black with a thin light tan colored head that leaves a thin web of lacing across the glass. The nose has a mild and robust roasted malt with milk chocolate and intense woody and earthen notes. A hint of odd fruityness, not quite cherry to be certain. The flavor has a light sweetness and a hint of tartness with light maraschino and cherry flavors coming through. The finish is quite light and un-impeding with no astringency and a hint of alcohol warmth. Overall, a nice beer, but not as intense nor tasty as the non-cherry version. Regardless, I hope they try more and more of these.