Terrapin Substance Abuse Ale

Brewed by Terrapin Beer Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Athens, Georgia USA

Draft at the grand opening of the new brewery. Pours a dark, brown. No head. Aroma of chocolate and bourbon. Flavor is unbelievably smooth. Heavy coffee notes complimented by vanilla and bourbon undertones. Finish is creamy. What a knockout!

Tap at official opening for the Terrapin in Athens. Poured a deep brown (maybe black) with a thin tan head. Aroma of roasted malt, bourbon, oak, & coffee. Taste is also of coffee, bourbon, malt, with some chocolate and a lightly bitter finish. Bourbon was pretty heavy, like a normal Wake-n-Bake with a touch of Woodford. Overall, a nice brew. ***** On tap at Trappeze. Really enjoyable. Apparently this was from the same batch served at the Terrapin opening. A year of rest has really smoothed out the heavy bourbon burn. This was very smooth. A very nice balance of oak and WnB. Lots of smooth vanilla, oak, coffee, bourbon, malt. Great beer!

Well, to say I’ve been wanting to try this one would be an epic understatement. Tapped to commemorate the opening of the Brick Store 12 years ago. Is there any way it could live up to my expectations? In a word, YES! It poured much like the regular Wake ’N Bake - completely black with no light passing through. There is a surprisingly big, creamy mocha head on top that recedes very slowly and leaves some decent lacing. The aroma is wonderfully balanced and I was surprised by a couple of things. First, it is much sweeter in the nose than I was expecting. There is not nearly as much coffee as the regular WNB and there is not only the chocolate sweetness but also plenty of vanilla as well. Secondly, the bourbon is much more integrated into the nose than many beers aged on whiskey. Great nose. The taste is spectacular, and it takes all of the complexity and balance of the nose and amps it up a bit. There is all the sweetness of the chocolate, vanilla and even caramel up front before a light roasted malt presence takes over. The finish is where I bumped this up vs. the aroma as the coffee bitterness is actually present and balanced by a smooth whiskey burn going down. So damn tasty. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with a solid soft carbonation and super, super smooth with the oatmeal still present in the mouthfeel. Well, this is certainly the best Terrapin beer I’ve ever had and, unlike the Big Sloppy Monster, the barrel aging has done wonders for the base beer. One of the best beers I’ve had in recent memory and the best possible way to celebrate the Brick Store’s anniversary. Terrapin needs to make some more of this stuff...now.

On cask at the 1/27/07 Atlanta Cask Ale Tasting: Pours a viscous opaque with a thin, wispy coating of dark tan head. Has a complex sweet caramel malt, oaky bourbon, roasty coffee and dark chocolate aroma. Body starts fairly full with a nice balance of sweet malt and oaky bourbon toward a lingering coffee bean and dark chocolate finish. My favorite beer of the Cask Ale Tasting, which was also the favorite of the judges.

[2006 Draft @ UJ’s Manatawny] Opaque black color with a small tan head that left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of light coffee, bourbon, roasted malt, smoke, chocolate, sherry, vanilla, light soy, and a bit of alcohol. Taste of coffee, roasted malts, dark chocolate, smoked wood, sherry, dried fruits, vanilla, and light bourbon with a little alcohol in the finish.

draft @ brewery. Very nice offering. A very good blend of coffee, chic, oak, and jd. Reminds me of black gold bourbon. Best offering from terrapin.

This won the Cask Ale Tasting in Atlanta this year. 񢉗) Very dark and oily. I smell the coffee and clearly smell the Jack. Not unbalanced, but the whiskey is prevalent. Very tasty beer.

rated at the Atlanta Cask Ale tasting in Jan. 2007. Pours dark and thick, just like the Wake and Bake. This was one of the better whiskey barrel-aged beers out there. There’s enough malt and coffee to handle the bourbon without getting overwhelmed.