Samuel Adams (Barrel Room Collection) Thirteenth Hour Stout

Brewed by Boston Beer Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Boston, Massachusetts USA

Serve in Snifter

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One of my top beers. This is a dark brown/red beer with a fluffy beige head. Although, thick and rich, it is clean and easy drinking. I taste caramel, brown sugar, chocolate, vanilla, some coffee, and toast. This is a very complex, pleasant stout with a lingering satisfying finish. It’s really pretty amazing.

Very deep red, ring of beige head. Smells like cherries, wine, macerated fruit. Sweet, fruity, medium-to-full bodied. Prunes and raisins. Caramelized sugar.

Sampled from a tall corked bottle into a mini tulip glass at CarterFest 2013. It poured a deep mahogany colour with huge fluffy beige foam and lots of Belgian lace. Strong aromas and flavours of grains, toast, roasted malts, dark stone fruits, black pepper, clove, and other intense Belgian yeast aspects, Brett tartness. Barn-yardy in a good way. Somehow candy-sweet with a super dry finish. Medium body, lighter than most "Imperial Stouts" because of the high-attenuating multi-strain yeasts. Strong carbonation, crisp and well-rounded mouthfeel. Many of the familiar stout characteristics AND Belgian strong ale characteristics. Outrageously complex, the best of both worlds. Delicious, and probably one of my all-time favourite beers.

Pours dark brown with a fair sized tan head. Smells of subtle chocolate, dark fruits, and some rum-like booziness. Taste is plum, fig, hints of chocolate, and mildly boozy. Medium-bodied with a smooth texture and mildly fizzy mouth-carbonation, Samuel Adams Thirteenth Hour Stout finishes fruity and mildly boozy.

This is right up my alley. Chocolaty, coffee, slightly sweet. An overall fantastic stout.

Pours deep cola color. Head is thick and rich. Smells of caramel, vanilla, some fruit. Head tastes just as it smells. Brew has mocha hit you first with vanilla hanging on the pallet. Darn fine stout ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Beautiful bottle. Hints of sherry, oak, sweet vanilla as well as dark chocolate. Good foam and great finish. Smooth dark ale.

Dark brown almost black with tan head. Chocolate and cherries in aroma. Smooth palate. Dark chocolate and coffee flavors with an underlying flavor of cherries. A little tartness in finish. Very nice unique brew.

25.4 / 750mL bottle poured into a tulip glass slowly and gently. Served cool. Aroma: Smells pretty boozy; definite alcohol smell. Behind that, dark fruit. Raisins/currants. Coffee grounds. Dark bittersweet chocolate. They all blend together exceptionally well. Appearance: Opaque dark brown, with a cola-like head; the color and fizziness and lack of retention all remind me of cola. Before it fizzes down though, it is quite creamy-looking. Taste: Wow. Where to start...Some raisins, definitely. A nice spice package that reminds me of some Belgian ales I’ve had. Ends one some delightfully velvety smooth and bittersweet chocolate. Palate: Full body. Warms. Coats. Lingers. Somewhat fizzy on arrival. Overall: Actually a really fantastic beer. I wasn’t expecting the spice in this one, and it really played well with the other flavors. Pleasant surprise! Would definitely drink again and recommend.

THOUGHTS: Nice barrel-aged flavors, but not enough stout flavors and aromas at first. It was a very nice beer but not the best stout. This could have been just about any dark, roasty beer that was barrel aged. It was very easy to drink for the high ABV. Hid alcohol incredibly well. I think Jolly Pumpkin did a much better job with this style of beer. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a dark brown that was nearly opaque black in the glass with a small tan head that mostly diminished. The aroma had roasted malt; light spicy yeast; light cocoa; and wood; but mostly sour fruit. The sour parts actually reminded me of Rodenbach. The initial flavor was lightly sweet, light to moderately sour and slightly bitter; while the finish was moderate to heavily sweet, moderately sour and slightly bitter with a long duration. There was sour fruit, chocolate, roasted malt, wood, and a hint of coffee. It was all a little watered down. The slightly more than medium body was somewhat oily and then a little dry with soft carbonation and a slightly dry and lightly astringent finish.