The Duck-Rabbit Bourbon Barrel Milk Stout

Brewed by The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery
Style: Sweet Stout
Farmville, North Carolina USA

Cask at ACAT. Aging imparts a vanilla aroma. The creamy texture is reminiscient of the original. Bittersweet chocolate flavor with an overall good balance.

Cask. Pours dark brown with a light tan head. Aroma of vanilla, malted milk balls, bourbon, light roast, and a touch of oak. Taste is the same as aroma. Medium mouthfeel with a mild amount of bitterness. I’m amazed that the barrel didn’t over power the base beer. Very well done.

Cask at Atlanta Cask Ale Tasting. Pour was dark brown with a beige head. Aroma of chocolate, roasted malt, lactose, and bourbon oak, with vanilla. Taste is nicely balanced, with the bourbon nicely accompanying the milk stout flavors, not overpowering them. Finish is smooth with some bourbon coming through. Mouth is smooth with mild carbonation and average body. Overall, a nice offering from DR.

Cask at the Atlanta Cask Ale Tasting. Pours dark, dark brown with a surprisingly big head from a cask that showed very good retention and bits of lacing. Dark roasted malts dominate the aroma with a balanced and non-overpowering bourbon presence. Some milk chocolate and oak as well. The taste has the whiskey up front before giving way to the milk chocolate and dark malts underneath. The bourbon comes back with a vengeance in the finish with a solid bourbon warmth going down. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and a little thinner than I expected with decent carbonation for a cask pour. I really enjoyed this one and, surprisingly, thought the bourbon really did this one some favors. Very nice.

I must admit I harbored severe reservations at even the thought of a bourbon barrel-aged milk stout, fearing the relatively light stout would be crushed under a grotesquely alcoholic bourbon presence. I anticipated the results to be frowns and a full round of tongue-clucking. Oh, how wrong I was! My taste buds greeted each and every sip as liberators. Appearance: Dark brown, near black body with a small, bubbly, off-white head. Smell: A scent of milk chocolate and light roast paired with a very expressive bourbon aroma, with notes of vanilla, coconut, light brown sugar, and charred oak barrels. Taste: Lightly roasted dark malts hit with sweet tastes of chocolate and vanilla. Tons of rich, well-integrated bourbon flavor immerse the palate. At no point is it ever boozy. All of the usual bourbon flavors are present and in full-force, except the coconut, which is particularly striking. Minuscule amount of earthy bitterness. Finishes dry with lingering tastes of chocolate and top shelf bourbon. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: All kinds of excellent! Kudos to Duck-Rabbit for using the prestigious Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve instead of just dumping their milk stout in a soiled tub of Old Crow.

2 2 Oz samples at the World Beer Festival in Columbia. Wasn’t planning on rating it but Frumpty talked me into it. Opaque a light tan head. Definetly had some similarities to the regular milk stout, but the bourbon really contributed nicely, adding just the slightest whisky in the nose and taste. A little heavier mouthfeel that that your typical sweet/milk stout, but thats kinda what floats my boat. Could easily have been my number one beer of the fest.