Stoudts Old Abominable (Whiskey Barrel Aged)

Formerly brewed at Stoudts Brewing Co.
Style: Barley Wine
Adamstown, Pennsylvania USA

Serve in Snifter

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

This has been sitting on top of my fridge for quite some time so I finally popped in to chill a couple of days ago. When opening I was greeted with a TON of carbonation. More than the most carbonated champagne I’ve seen. I had to stop pouring almost immediately as I had 1 inch of beer and the rest of the glass was a thick foamy head that took nearly 10 minutes to collapse. Aroma is not as heavy as other whiskey barrel beers I’ve head. Nice aroma of vanilla and medium toasted coconut. Fairly cloudy body, orangy amber in color. Nicely done flavor. Good balance between whiskey barrell, malts and hops, with nothing sticking out like a sore thumb. Also, body is just right with slight warmth lingering on the clean palate. Will have to keep an eye for this one again this year! (I honestly would’ve rated this higher, but because of the MAJOR head problem I can’t. Even 20 min. after opening the bottle its creating one huge head when pouring down the side of the glass).

Cask at brewery. Poured a cloudy amber/brown color body with virtually no head. Aroma was dry oak, alcohol, molasses, and candied sugar. Flavor was very mild compared to the regular b.w. Mostly mild whiskey, carmel, and molasses, with a raisin-like finish. Good but almost too mellow.

Bottle, with much thanks to Dmac. Pours out a slightly cloudy reddish brown color with a big off white head. Carbonation has held up very well for how old this bottle is. Aroma is toffee, caramel, oak, and some bourbon, with a slight trace of age. Taste is complex with caramel, toffee, light bourbon, oak, vanilla, some sweet fruity notes, only a slight tell of the age or alcohol content. Very solid.

Courtesy SoLan. Cloudy dark amber color with a thin, even, very light tan head Subdued whisky notes meld nicely with a dark fruity malt richness. Mildly spicy. The taste is also combines the barrel aging nicely. The barrel is almost imperceptible, but adds a nice subtle dimension. Well-balanced and not overpowering.

25 oz bottle, via BA beerbeing. Pours a clear dark copper body under a one finger creamy beige head that had pretty good retention. Some very sparce spotty lacing. The aroma is very well balanced between sweet caramel and toffee malts, light whiskey, slight oak tannins, a little vanilla, alcohol fumes, and some herbal notes. Flavor is pretty mellow for a BA Barley Wine. A very restrained malitiness with a fairly subtle barrel character. The whiskey is fairly light, which is nice for a change. Not overly sweet or sticky, which I especially like. The alcohol is fairly well hidded in the flavor, but emerges more on he finish. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with a nice sturdy but not sticky texture. A little on the high side with the carbonation level that lent a slight fizzy prickly feel to it that I didn’t especially care for. Quite warming on the finish. Overall, I think that this was a really nice effort, as was the BA Fat Dog. Both were much more subtle than I expected, and that’s a good thing.

22 fl oz bottle. Pours clear and golden deep amber to hazzlnut brown with a small to fully gone head. Aroma is dark malty and distinct hoppy fruity. Sweet, caramelish and fruity into a mild hoppy fruity flavour. Smooth fruity and caramelish far finish.

Bottle. Pours a deep hazy brown with a small bubbly beige head with some spotty lacing. Nose of bourbon, vanilla, toffee, caramel, and some candied dark fruits. Flavor held mostly bourbon, oak, and booze. Some nice sweet oak on the finish.

Big thanks to tpd975 for bringing another in a long long line of amazing brews to the weekly tasting. Pours clear copper with thin tan head. The aroma has pulses of sweet dark fruity esters moving into vanilla, oak and booze. The taste is smooth and near silky with malt and dark fruity ester sweetness followed by wood, vanilla and booze. This is just so smooth and tasty and carries a fairly full wood sensation from front to back. It seems to achieve a nice balance between barrel and barleywine notes. Upon further inspection it does lean some toward barrel rather than beer.

750ml via trade a ways back. I was looking for a good barleywine, and a good sipper for tonight. Shared with my girlfriend Cyn. Pours a deep copper brown, with a nice tan head. Nose is big, big enough to smell from a far, its sweet with dark fruits and certainly a nice whiskey nose as well. Sweet whiskey tinged taste with a bit of an oxidized feeling, not sure how oxidized it is. With more sips its clear that its got some life in it, and the oxidation may be my imagination, hey that rhymes. Overall good as it warms, though I didn’t chill it all that much.

Bottle shared by someone - don’t remember who - at DLD. Thanks to whoever it was. Pours a clear medium reddish-brown color with a small off-white head. Aroma is very nice: sweet caramel malts, brown sugar, oak, whiskey, and slight fruity notes. Flavor is also great. Way better than the non-bal aged version, but then again, what isn’t? Barrel aging is the best invention since...I don’t know...the Sun or something. Sweet caramel malts and toffee - but not too sweet - with brown sugar, candied dates, coconut, oak, whiskey, and vanilla. Very complex. Just the right amount of barrel. Medium-full bodied with a smooth mouthfeel and medium-low carbonation. A great barrel-aged barleywine overall. I am impressed, Stoudt’s.