West Sixth Slap Happy Bourbon Barrel Brown

Brewed by West Sixth Brewing Company
Style: Brown Ale
Lexington, Kentucky USA

Serve in Dimpled mug, Shaker

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Clear dark amber, good ring head, light streaks of lace. Vanilla caramel malt is joined by sweet bourbon overtones. All of it moves smoothly to a clean finish. None of the alcohol warmth usually associated bourbon ales, but still clearly present. This is more like a dessert port, not heavy, good for sipping while enjoying a cigar (or anything sweet). Recommended.

Aroma of predominant vanilla, some oak, nuts and a bit of resin. Appearance is dark red/brown with bone head. Flavor is really almost all bourbon barrel; it’s not a bad flavor, but I wish a bit more of the base brown would shine through. Palate is very creamy and soft. Not a bad beer by any means, and would probably be loved by a bourbon drinker.

On draft at the brewery, for a barreled brown ale, this pretty much kills it. The barrels cone through on the nose really well and it takes a couple whiffs to fully pick the malt from the barrel. The bourbon smells delicious and it’s not intrusive at all, notes of caramel and roast and slight chocolate escape the glass. This beer pours a beautiful dark brown that becomes dark amber on the edges. The head quickly dissipates into very minimal bubble ring. The tastes of very mellow bourbon first engulfs the palate and leads to slight roasty carameleized flavors. At 7% it’s easy to get a little carried away with it, it helps that their is minimal fusel alcohol coming from the barrels. Thi is another good beer coming from a great local brewery.

Draught at brewery. Bourbon for sure. Big bourbon nose. Some vanilla. Light body. Bit of caramel. Tasty, though I’d like a little more body to it.