Dark Hollow
Blue Mountain Brewery

Dark HollowDark Hollow
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From:
Blue Mountain Brewery
 
Virginia, United States
Style:
American Imperial Stout
Ranked #1,731
ABV:
10%
Score:
89
Ranked #11,536
Avg:
3.98 | pDev: 12.06%
Reviews:
214
Ratings:
852
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jan 29, 2024
Added:
Nov 02, 2007
Wants:
  73
Gots:
  164
Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout. Dark Hollow blends the miracle of two crafts--brewing and distillation--to create a work greater than the sum of its parts. An Imperial Stout has been aged in charred American oak bourbon barrels still dripping with uncut whiskey. For 100 days the young beer patiently breathes in and out of the wood, gaining complexity, character, and serious attitude.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by TTripp725:
Photo of TTripp725
Rated by TTripp725 from Pennsylvania

3.25/5  rDev -18.3%

Dec 13, 2014
More User Ratings:
Photo of mikeg67
Reviewed by mikeg67 from New Jersey

4.51/5  rDev +13.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.75
750 ml bottle from Rare Beer club. Pours black with tall, long lasting, creamy, brown head and nice lacing. Aroma is of roasted malt, toast, dark fruit, bourbon and vanilla. Body is full, creamy and slightly crisp. Taste is of spices, roasted malt, bourbon, vanilla, coffee, chocolate, brown sugar, dark fruit and herbal hops. Finish is long and spicy. Great IS.
Jan 29, 2024
Photo of Roguer
Reviewed by Roguer from Connecticut

3.82/5  rDev -4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
With barely three months in bourbon barrels (cleverly advertised as "100 days"), there's good reason to doubt just how much the bourbon really added to the overall beer - itself a potent 10% ABV.

Aroma is a touch on the sour side, with strong notes of red grape, prune, raisin, oak, and bourbon mash; secondary notes of caramel, toffee, toast, and molasses. Does not impress as a particularly rich stout, but it does imply a quite roasty take on the style, which could be quite nice. Aroma is generally closer to the RIS style.

A touch hot on the palate, surprisingly up front. Suggests it may be thick but then fails to live up to that promise. Fairly short finish.

Tasting notes are similar to the nose: pecan, walnut, oak, chocolate, modest char, raisin, prune, molasses. There's a decent amount of bourbon flavor, but no one will mistake this for a 12 month aged special release. The flavor profile is more interesting and complex than Dragon's Milk (the closest comp), but the mouthfeel thinner.

Overall, this is a very good and very tasty BBA imperial stout, but it's not quite great. I'd be interested to try the flavored versions to see if they bring more to the table.
Jul 18, 2023
 
Rated: 4.21 by jdezelick from Virginia

Jul 16, 2023
Photo of ramseye4
Reviewed by ramseye4 from Virginia

4.29/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25
Pours an extremely opaque oil black, espresso colored head, great lacing. Fantastic.

Chocolate hits the nose first, with some espresso and a hint of nuttiness. It’s not super nuanced but oh man is it good.

Roasted malt hits the tongue, chocolate, cherries, some booze creeps in at the end. Bourbon in the finish and aftertaste Slightly metallic aftertaste brings it down a bit

Full bodied, lightly carbonated.

Overall it’s a dang good stout.
Mar 07, 2023
Photo of Griffin2
Reviewed by Griffin2 from Virginia

4.04/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Poured from a16 oz bottle with an enjoy by date of 5/12/2023 into a snifter glass.
L - Pours a dark brown color with minimal tan head.
S - Smells of chocolate, coffee and booze.
T - Tastes of chocolate and bourbon with a slight bitterness.
F - Medium to full bodied with hardly any carbonation.
O - Nice boozy stout.
Jan 07, 2023
 
Rated: 3.69 by Bogdawg from Massachusetts

Oct 29, 2022
 
Rated: 3.87 by Tcsox from Massachusetts

Oct 29, 2022
Photo of VABA
Reviewed by VABA from Virginia

4/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Pours a very dark color with a slight head and lacing
Aroma has chocolate hints
Taste follows the nose with a chocolate flavor
A medium bodied well carbonated beer
A good Stout
Sep 16, 2022
Photo of Fordcoyote15
Reviewed by Fordcoyote15 from Pennsylvania

4.52/5  rDev +13.6%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Wow. I had low expectations for this given the rating...

Preface by its been an ISO for 5 years since my non beer drinking coworker visited their brewery years ago and regularly wear a dark hollow shirt.

Pour is unreal. Head looks like a nitro guineas pour with tight frothy head.

Smell is so much richer than I expect for a 10% beer.

Taste is stellar

Feel is great.
May 05, 2022
Photo of drdiesel9483
Reviewed by drdiesel9483 from Ohio

4.02/5  rDev +1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Look - Great black along with a thick tan head and sticky lacing
Smell - dark chocolate caramel vanilla woody barrel scents
Taste - dark chocolate vanilla slight roasty wood bourbon and a slight bitter bite
Feel - full body with a medium light carb
Overall - pretty good classic BA stout
Mar 11, 2022
 
Rated: 4.5 by drt72 from Virginia

Dec 10, 2021
 
Rated: 4.16 by Quafftastic from Virginia

Oct 02, 2021
Photo of chinchill
Reviewed by chinchill from South Carolina

3.99/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Cellared 12.7 oz bottle from VA ($6.77) with a cage and cork seal.
Pours with a near black body with just a thin film substituting for a proper head.
Promising aroma featuring the influence of a woody bourbon barrel.
The flavor is even better. It leans sweet for style, although the aftertaste is bitter.
The mouthfeel is disappointing. It thin to the point of being a bit watery.
Oct 18, 2020
Photo of PathofChaos
Reviewed by PathofChaos from Maryland

4.47/5  rDev +12.3%
look: 5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Appearance:
The ominous black of a mountain’s maw. Hold a strong light to it and the weighted darkness doesn’t budge. When poured, a dim khaki gloam settles atop and provides sandy, unbroken lacing with stalwart retention.

Bouquet:
Unsweetened baker’s chocolate, cold vanilla, and gently sanded oak with minuscule droplets of chilled bourbon throughout.

Feel:
A full-bodied, velvet splash with a tranquil murmur of carbonation.

Taste:
Sugarless, toothsome dark chocolate draped in a delicate shawl of vanilla and permeated by soft oak. What follows is the gentlest bourbon heat, like feeling the sun’s warmth on a cool, autumn afternoon.
Sep 12, 2020
 
Rated: 3.87 by jera1350 from Minnesota

Aug 19, 2020
 
Rated: 4.73 by Brett315

Apr 01, 2020
Photo of BeerAndGasMasks
Reviewed by BeerAndGasMasks from Virginia

4.05/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
2016 Vintage, poured out tonigh - 30 Dec 2019. It pours a dark brown, almost black with a nice modest light brown head that lasts and leaves a bit of lacing. In the nose, it is strongly roasted malty with bourbon. In the mouth, it is dark fruits, roasted and burnt malts and a touch (not much) of alcohol. Definitely a sipper!
Dec 31, 2019
 
Rated: 4 by t2grogan from Arizona

Nov 15, 2019
Dark Hollow from Blue Mountain Brewery
Beer rating: 89 out of 100 with 852 ratings