Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Star: Spice Wars
Fremont Brewing Company

Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Star: Spice WarsBourbon Barrel Aged Dark Star: Spice Wars
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From:
Fremont Brewing Company
 
Washington, United States
Style:
Oatmeal Stout
Ranked #8
ABV:
14.5%
Score:
97
Ranked #725
Avg:
4.37 | pDev: 6.86%
Reviews:
75
Ratings:
383
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jan 28, 2024
Added:
Oct 31, 2014
Wants:
  91
Gots:
  87
Our Imperial Oatmeal Stout aged in 15 year old single use Kentucky Bourbon Barrels. Spice wars adds vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, and cloves.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by UCLABrewN84:
Photo of UCLABrewN84
Reviewed by UCLABrewN84 from California

4.44/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 3.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Thanks to mrbubbler for sharing this one at his tasting.

2014 vintage.

Pours an opaque black with a foamy dark khaki head that settles to wisps of film on top of the beer. Small streaks of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of dark roasted malt, cocoa powder, vanilla, baking spice, chai spice, wood, and slight bourbon aromas. Taste is much the same with cocoa powder, vanilla, spice, wood, and slight bourbon flavors on the finish. There is a mild amount of roast and wood bitterness and an alcohol kick on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp and medium bodied mouthfeel. Overall, this is a very good beer with an awesome mix of cocoa, spice, and bourbon barrel aged characteristics all around.

Serving type: bottle.
Apr 12, 2015
More User Ratings:
Photo of dr_lager
Reviewed by dr_lager from Washington

3.6/5  rDev -17.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.5
2021 version. ABV 13.4%. Thick and treacly, the spices are front and center. However, this also was the strongest alcohol taste and smell of any of the bourbon barrel aged series that I’ve tried and I couldn’t really get past that. It was very decent but I probably won't have again.
Jan 28, 2024
Photo of pathman
Rated by pathman from Ohio

4.5/5  rDev +3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
11/23/23 bottle @ home (2021 vintage)
Dec 02, 2023
Photo of TheMoustache
Rated by TheMoustache from Colorado

4.64/5  rDev +6.2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.75
Great bold flavors. Hints of chocolate, bourbon and dark rose. Desert beer and coordinates with most meals enjoy with steak and blue cheese.
Oct 07, 2023
 
Rated: 4.39 by AmeriCanadian from Tennessee

Aug 13, 2023
Photo of stortore
Reviewed by stortore from Illinois

4.46/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
22 ounce bottle into a snifter. 2021 edition, had 8/19/22.

Pours near black and opaque, with a quarter inch foamy head and sparse, soapy cling. Aromas of cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, malt, light bourbon, ginger as it warms. Smells smoky. Flavors of vanilla, roasted malt, bourbon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, light oak, cinnamon as it warms. Has a smoky taste. Smooth, a solid full body, appropriately carbonated.

Really enjoyed this one. The spices are brilliant in both the aroma and flavor, the barrels are tamed but impactful in the flavor. A solid base beer, too.
Jun 19, 2023
Photo of Christianriveraaa
Reviewed by Christianriveraaa

4.45/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Poured into a snifter from a 22oz bomber - jet black motor oil pour with minimal foam.
whoa this is a big spice bomber here - aromas of ginger, cinnamon, nutmet, slight smooth vanilla, chocolate. Smells like holiday deliciousness.
Definitely getting the spices such as cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg. The spices dominate the flavor but you can also get some good rich chocolate in here along with that vanilla. You can taste the bourbon slightly but is covered up by all the different spices added. Getting that spice after taste on my tongue after drinking. Very well done!
Full bodied - chewy, easy to drink.
Overall I'm glad I got to try this. It's not my favorite of the barrel aged series by Fremont but it's worth a try if you love your stouts as much as I do.
Apr 19, 2023
 
Rated: 4.24 by hopley from Massachusetts

Mar 21, 2023
 
Rated: 4.33 by BarrelAgedG from California

Feb 15, 2023
Photo of Phyl21ca
Reviewed by Phyl21ca from Canada (QC)

4.46/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Bottle: Poured a pitch-black color stout with a medium dark brown foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of chocolate notes with some bourbon notes with light vanilla with plenty of spices (cloves, ginger, cinnamon). Taste is also a nice mix of chocolate malt with bourbon and some strong spice notes of cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Body is about average for style with good carbonation and no real perceptible alcohol notes. Well brewed pastry stout with a nice mix of spices which provides a different style of pastry stout.
Jan 05, 2023
 
Rated: 4.14 by Sammy from Canada (ON)

Nov 11, 2022
Photo of DIM
Reviewed by DIM from Pennsylvania

4.04/5  rDev -7.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
While the spices come across as mild, they completely change the nature of the base beer. It cuts the sweetness and doesn't add much to replace. The result is good but kind of bland.
May 15, 2022
 
Rated: 4.43 by ppavlick from New Jersey

Apr 15, 2022
Photo of REVZEB
Reviewed by REVZEB from Illinois

4.33/5  rDev -0.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Brownish black body with a pinky finger of brown foam. Smells of strong licorice, oat, dark chocolate, bourbon, oak, nutmeg and clove. The taste I enjoy more and more as it warms, so be patient with this one: it starts as it smells but then the cinnamon and other spices come in strong, leaving a bourbon backed root beer flavoring with leather, vanilla, and dark chocolate, while never losing the oatmeal and malt base. Feel is obviously spiced but makes the body a little lighter than normal, barrel also takes a backseat compared to others in the series. Was perfect on a cold and wet early spring day
Mar 25, 2022
 
Rated: 4.18 by o29 from Texas

Mar 16, 2022
Photo of dafla67
Reviewed by dafla67 from Pennsylvania

4.03/5  rDev -7.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
Pours dark black. Aroma is definitely holiday spice -- nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon and a bit of chocolate. Taste is overpowered by the holiday spice. I'm a fan of Troegs Mad Elf's holiday spice flavor, but this one was too much for me. I didn't taste anything but the spice. Really nice, full mouthfeel.
Mar 13, 2022
Photo of beergoot
Reviewed by beergoot from Colorado

4.42/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Dark, opaque body; thick, densely spongy head, light khaki colored. Holiday spice aroma; cinnamon and allspice; cocoa powder and chocolate; nutmeg. Boozy, spicy, chocolate taste; milk chocolate; bourbon; snicker doodle cookies; mild booziness; light bitterness. Heavy mouthfeel; soft and spongy; mild to moderate alcohol heat.

This is a fine, smooth, easy drinking sipper. The base beer has a great oatmeal stout smoothness and lusciousness while the spices provided a complementary spark to the beer. The high ABV is noticeable but not overbearing.

Pouring temperature: 53 °F; bottling data: 2020 limited release
Feb 28, 2022
 
Rated: 4.36 by smithj4 from New York

Jan 29, 2022
Photo of jrc1093
Reviewed by jrc1093 from Connecticut

3.75/5  rDev -14.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75
2020 vintage; consumed on 12/30/21

Pours a clean, oily black body capped with multiple fingers of rich, fluffy, hazelnut-hued foam; good head retention leaves ¾ of a finger of creamy cap, a large frothy collar, and waves of firm, soapy lacing holding firmly to the walls of the glass.

Aromas of gingerbread spice pepper the bouquet upfront as nutmeg in tandem with allspice as clove appears over the middle, with underlying roasty chocolate and tinges of sweeter vanilla poke through a back end hinting toward bourbon barrel influence.

Taste highlights gingersnap cookie at the forefront alongside added nuance of nutmeg and light cinnamon while a soft bourbon presence contributes to a chocolate backdrop with hints of coffee roast; deepening oak finds toasted clove over the back end as a distant suggestion of mace-like character through the swallow that holds this from being a more pleasantly roasty, clean finish.

Mouthfeel offers a medium body with minimal-low carbonation, oily-slick in texture with a vague char bringing a prickle stimulating pseudo-spice over the mid-palate; a drying back end holds a weighty, firm character as the finish warms.

An almost abrasive spice profile dominates to a level of overcommitment, somewhat detracting from the roastier base aspects of the stout while highlighting in aggressive detail a smooth, 'seasonal' char overlay; well-constructed and direct, though could benefit from a bit more nuance overall.
Dec 31, 2021
Photo of JohnnyHopps
Reviewed by JohnnyHopps from Indiana

4.35/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Appearance - The beer poured a silky black color with a dark tan head.

Smell - The nose brought to mind winter mint with stout undercurrents.

Taste - Chocolate licorice was the most immediate impression. Also detectable were notes of nutmeg, cinnamon, a touch of vanilla, and light booze. The dark bitter oats of the left a bitter impression in the aftertaste.

Mouthfeel - The stout was silky with low carbonation. It was a bit warming in the finish.

Overall - I enjoyed the earthy notes, but was a bit surprised it was not sweeter.
Dec 26, 2021
Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Star: Spice Wars from Fremont Brewing Company
Beer rating: 97 out of 100 with 383 ratings