Whiskey Barrel Stout
Two Rows Restaurant & Brewery

Reviewed 10/31/2007 (Tap @ TwoRows Houston, TX):

Pours a black colored body, fizzy, with a small dark tan head. Aroma of rubbing alcohol, chocolate and malts. Whiskey, chocolate, alcohol vapor burn like vodka. Chocolately but with a clean aftertaste.

A: A clear dark brown color, almost black. No head and no lace.
S: Some sweet dark malt with lots of alcohol from the start. Smells basically of whiskey, and I am not that experienced at whiskey reviews.
T: Again, lots of alcohol and a big whiskey/bourbon flavor that overpowers. No balance at all.
D: Because of the whiskey flavor, this is very hard to drink.

I would not recommend this beer. It is a good idea, but the alcohol is too harsh and there is no balance between the whiskey and malt flavors. I hope Two Rows works on this some more.

I don't typically give really negative reviews, but this was probably one of the worst beers that I have had from Two Rows (or ever). Served in a half-pint glass, it had the dark black colour of a typical stout with no head. Had a strong aroma of bourbon whiskey and the first sniff made me pull back from the rim of the glass. Flavour was pretty much the same with the bourbon whiskey flavour over-powering all other flavours. In fact, it pretty much tasted like the bartender had poured a shot of whiskey into a glass of stout. We let it sit for a while and warm up before sampling it again, but the flavour had not mellowed very much. Basically, I found it to be a completely undrinkable beer (the first one so far). However, this certainly will not keep me from returning to Two Rows as I have had very good beer experiences there. On a side note, the Hopzilla IPA was quite delicious that night which has often been rather inconsistent in quality.

One of the most interesting beers I've sampled at Two Rows over the past year or so. The color is a rich, dark brown, almost black with no head. The aroma is strong of alcohol with just a little roasted malt smell noted. Initially this beer tastes of almost overwelmingly strong flavors of whiskey and alcohol. After a couple minutes of warming up a nice roasted malt flavor begins to grow and balance out some of the alcohol taste. By the time this has warmed up to standard stout serving temperature the flavors compliment each other nicely and a bit of chocolate flavor comes into the mix. Whiskey Barrel Stout is also incredably smooth, especially considering the amount of alcohol here. If this is on-tap during your visit to Two Rows, I highly suggest it as a nightcap.