Red Wine Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
Other Half Brewing Company

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From:
Other Half Brewing Company
 
New York, United States
Style:
American Imperial Stout
ABV:
Not listed
Score:
76
Avg:
3.13 | pDev: 37.06%
Reviews:
5
Ratings:
26
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Mar 04, 2015
Added:
Aug 24, 2014
Wants:
  1
Gots:
  7
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by timotao:
Photo of timotao
Rated by timotao from New York

3.75/5  rDev +19.8%

Sep 07, 2014
More User Ratings:
Photo of JRod1969
Rated by JRod1969 from New York

4.25/5  rDev +35.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
While the bottling sucked, it was good on tap.
Mar 04, 2015
Photo of WeisGuy
Rated by WeisGuy from New York

4/5  rDev +27.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Really nice red wine -bal aged stout with good dark fruit character
Feb 26, 2015
 
Rated: 1.75 by Jlabs from New York

Dec 11, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by nathanmiller from New York

Dec 08, 2014
Photo of Tpain518
Rated by Tpain518 from New York

2/5  rDev -36.1%
not good. possibly infected. taste like shitty red wine vinegar
Oct 24, 2014
Photo of Simont
Reviewed by Simont from New York

4.43/5  rDev +41.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 4.5
Huge chocolate, coffee and roast with equally big oak and wine character. Oak and alcohol come across as very high, in fact there seems to be a bourbon barrel quality here. Hard to believe this much oak, and these bourbon-like flavors, are coming off a wine barrel. But I definitely get wine as well, and it works with the heavy roast adding a nice tartness and tannic finish. The oak and alcohol are very assertive now, but it will be interesting to see where this goes as those flavors mellow. It would be great if a little tartness crept in too - time will tell. As others have mentioned this is a high carb now so pour slowly.

**Update 2/26/16. 4 months later this beer is bangin (2 months cellar + 2 mo fridge). Alcohol, tart wine and high tannin has mellowed, and a subtle sherry-like flavor along with pronounced toffee and roast are making this an incredibly solid imperial stout. Almost towards a quad, it's dark roasty and huge with lots of very interesting leather/ oak/ raisinette going on. In 4-6 months this beer might peak. If only I had another bottle...
Oct 15, 2014
Photo of AOTP
Reviewed by AOTP from New York

1/5  rDev -68.1%
This was arguably one of the worst beers I have ever had. Anyone who rated this above a 3 either spent time in line waiting for the bottle and simply "willed" it to be delicious and/or is delusional (a byproduct of Other Half fanboy hype).
Oct 08, 2014
Photo of NeroFiddled
Reviewed by NeroFiddled from Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +27.8%
Other Half Brewing Co. "Red Wine Barrel Aged Imperial Stout"
12.7 fl. oz. green glass "Champagne" bottle, capped; no apparent freshness dating
$20 at the brewery (limited release)

Appearance: The cap open with a standard snap, but the initial pour brought up a massive 5 finger thick head of dark tan foam (good thing I was using an Imperial pint glass!). I let it settle for a few minutes and it poured just fine, still maintaining a huge, fluffy, meringue-like head. As might be expected, the head retention and lacing were excellent (some of the best I've ever seen!). Below, the opaque black-brown body teemed with quick rising bubbles that could be seen rising against the glass if you gave it a tilt. A hazy deep mahogany brown edge could be seen at the base of the glass.

Aroma: Oak comes through amidst fruitiness (red berries, sharp apple, cherry). I also get some tropical fruit. Surprisingly the "stout" component is just an edge along the background.

Mouthfeel: Medium to medium-light in body. The carbonation is, indeed, elevated but not to the point of distraction. It bristles the tongue and then foams up as it warms, giving it a fluffy, lighter feel than you might expect. As it's really a sipping beer anyway, I didn't find it distracting. After the first few sips I let it sit and it leveled out nicely.

Flavor: The oak is clearly present the whole way through. Dark chocolate and fruit combine upfront (apple, berries). Some plastic-like phenols are present as well. Bittersweet chocolate steps in as the bitterness rises, and then it opens up to become more like black coffee surrounded by softer milk chocolate notes. It finishes with a nice nuttiness followed by some leafy and slightly herbal hops amidst bitterness and drying oak. It's bitter and acidic, but also a bit astringent (probably from oak that was just a bit too "new"). Alcohol is also noticeable but it doesn't particularly stand out, at least not over the raspiness of the oak. The subtle wine note is nice, and I wish it were stronger, although it's clearly lending to the fruitiness as well.

Overall: An excellent effort! Hopefully the next attempt will pull together more succinctly. Had the wine barrels that were used been a bit more tempered I think this would have been exceptional.
Sep 25, 2014
 
Rated: 1 by ChrisStoneIPALover from New York

Sep 16, 2014
 
Rated: 3.55 by pknyc from New York

Sep 15, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by rojapa from New York

Sep 13, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by IrishColonial from Texas

Sep 13, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by iL0VEbeer from New Jersey

Sep 10, 2014
 
Rated: 3.15 by SadMachine from New Jersey

Sep 10, 2014
Photo of crispinol
Rated by crispinol from New York

1.25/5  rDev -60.1%
Yikes, this bottle had some infection or weirdness. Disappointed!
Sep 10, 2014
 
Rated: 1 by 1Sundown2C from New York

Sep 04, 2014
Photo of VonZipper
Rated by VonZipper from New York

1.45/5  rDev -53.7%
look: 3 | smell: 1 | taste: 1 | feel: 2.25 | overall: 2
one of the worst beers that I've ever had.
Sep 04, 2014
 
Rated: 4.08 by dangelop from New York

Sep 03, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by LopeJuice from New York

Sep 02, 2014
Red Wine Barrel Aged Imperial Stout from Other Half Brewing Company
Beer rating: 76 out of 100 with 26 ratings