Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Pumpkin Chai
Saugatuck Brewing Company

 

Deep brown in color with little penetration to light. There’s a fingernail of beige around the rim. The nose offers earthy and spicy chai, vanilla, bourbon, nutmeg, and allspice. I’m tasting cinnamon, nutmeg, chai, allspice, vanilla, and bourbon. The mouth is busy with spices and a bit warm with bourbon.

Appearance - The beer poured a murky brown color with an white head crowning the glass.

Smell - The chai came out in the nose more than the booze. There was ginger notes, hinting cardamom was present.

Taste - I love chai tea, but this was too strong. The combination came across as barrel aged bathroom cleaner. The combination of chai, cinnamon, and bourbon just did not work for me. I t bordered on being abraisive.

Mouthfeel - There was a fair amount of viscosity to this beer.

Overall - There are many things in this beer I like. Together, they do not work.

 

A nice take on the pumpkin ale. Smell features pumpkin spice, warm bourbon, chai tea, vanilla, brown sugar, clove and cardamom. Taste actually was very similar, in that the spices were all there in taste too, but not overpowering. The bourbon is present, but as a nice compliment, like a booze addition to a holiday cookie. Good spice texture and boozy viscosity in the feel

This beer was surprising in several different areas. It's crazy. This beer was virtually devoid of any sort of aroma whatever... it was very strange. The aroma and flavors did not line up at all. That doesn't mean I didn't like the beer very much. It was just sort of weird. Big pumpkin and chai flavors dominate obviously with a healthy dose of bourbon thrown in. The more I drink the more it grows on me. The bourbon is very well done here. Not overpowering whatsoever. A very nice inflection rather than a focal point. The chai brings a different aspect to a pumpkin beer that I have not experienced before. It's not just pumpkin and Nutmeg here. This is a very nice sipper while watching Championship Games today. I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys chai tea or good pumpkin beers.

12oz bottle. Poured out an opaque, black color with a small, khaki-colored head of foam. It smelled of bourbon, pumpkin, roasted malt and chai. Nice bourbon taste with pumpkin, spices and caramel.

 

 

 

Poured cold from 12-ounce bottle into a small snifter. Appearance is reminiscent of weak coffee. Very thin light tan head despite an aggressive pour, no lacing. Very bourbon forward on the nose and palate. Allowing the beer to warm to room temperature brought out some complexity in the flavors. Although the bourbon and barrel remain front and center, the notes of pumpkin and chai tea begin to pop through with hints of cinnamon, coriander, clove, and a bit of peppery spice. Lighter in body than expected, which seems rather incongruous for such a high ABV beer. There is some unpleasant barrel sourness on the aftertaste, and the alcohol is quite prominent. This has a lot of elements that seem to me to be slightly out of balance. YMMV.

Bottle stamped 082418 Thanks to superspak for this one. Record in NBS BIF #8 Halle Berry, Glory Be!
Pours a deep burnished leather hue. Light pushes through the edges, revealing a bloody amber hint. Roughly 3/4" of oatmeal colored foam slowly dissipates to ring.
Aroma of cardamon in the foreground. Kind of funny, I just tried to make a chai tea/Thai iced tea version of Black Tuesday in the Bruery's Black Tuesday blending competition. On this attempt, I got too much cardamon. This aroma is pronounced but not heavy handed. Also getting notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, peppercorn, well spiced yams, and some deep brown bread pumpkin. Not really picking up on any bourbon barrel, except for maybe a sweet note that peeks through ever so lightly.
Flavor is warm. A little booziness jumps off. The spices I found in the nose instantly play with some oak and bourbon heat. Then the spice of pumpkin bread blends with prune, fig, and persimmon. Some sweet brown sugar, toasted coconut, and burnt sugar notes round out some of the spice. It's interesting to note, that the booziness tapers off a bit here.
Mouthfeel is a bit on the fuller side- I like that. It starts a bit warm on the booze, but this gets trimmed back a bit with more sipping.
Overall, this is a big version of a pumpkin beer. I'm not a huge fan of the style, but found this one to be so complex, that it made for a really interesting ride.

12 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 8/24/2018. Pours fairly hazy dark ruby red/light brown color with a small dense light khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass. Aromas of big cinnamon, cardamom, clove, peppercorn, black tea, mint, pumpkin, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, gingerbread, nuts, and biscuit; with light notes of coconut, raisin, plum, fig, cocoa, herbal, and yeast/toast/oaky earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/bready malts, spices, pumpkin, and bourbon barrel notes; with great strength. Taste of huge cinnamon, cardamom, clove, peppercorn, black tea, mint, pumpkin, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, gingerbread, nuts, and biscuit; with light notes of coconut, raisin, plum, fig, cocoa, herbal, and yeast/toast/oaky earthiness. Mild herbal/spice bitterness and bourbon/oak spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of cinnamon, cardamom, clove, peppercorn, black tea, mint, pumpkin, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, gingerbread, nuts, biscuit, coconut, light dark fruit/cocoa, herbal, and yeast/toast/oaky earthiness on the finish for a while. Amazing complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malts, spices, pumpkin, and bourbon barrel flavors; with a solid malt/bitter/spiciness balance, with zero cloying/astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering bitter/spiciness. Light-medium carbonation and medium-full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/bready/grainy, and lightly sticky/tannic mouthfeel that is fantastic. Mildly increasing warmth of 9.5%, with zero barrel booziness lingering after the finish. Overall this is an amazing imperial pumpkin/spice ale! All around incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malts, spices, pumpkin, and bourbon barrel flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to drink for the ABV, with the mildly bitter/spicy/tannic/drying finish. Perfectly balanced rich malts, spices, pumpkin, and bourbon barrel integration. Not overly sweet/heavy for the ABV, with lingering spice/oak dryness. A highly enjoyable offering, and amazing style example as expected.