XV Anniversary Stout
Jackie O's Brewpub

 

 

 

 

Jackie O’s barrel aged is always on the radar. I was interested in seeing the addition of milk sugar in their line which is consistent with the market. The anniversary stout leans heavily on the caramelized bourbon profile offering a rich brown sugar experience. Overall, it is a classic/smooth Jackie O stout.

One of the better jackie os barrel aged beers. Albeit not very different from ALL OTHER jackie os BA stouts its definitely top tier. Its basically BA dark apparition with a little more heat and heavier vanilla notes.

I literally just stated on the BA forums that JO is a one trick pony and all their stouts taste 90% the same. Welp, here we are again folks. So remarkably similar to every other 1,000 stupid ass stout they pump out that i avoid even picking up there bottles to read anymore. This is the first one I've bought in maybe 2 years and yep... theyre still going hard at pumping out a million tweaked versions of BA dark apparition and selling them as new BA stouts.

 

Poured from fridge temp into a big snifter. Pours jet black with little head. Although this spent 17 months in bourbon barrels, I don't get a heavy dose of this on the nose. Charred oak, black licorice, and molasses dominate. A bit of lactose, and some deep dark fruits. Almost a metallic note comes through as well. The taste is incredible. Super smooth with a really strong base stout coming through. Burnt wood, black licorice, and molasses are all still dominant. A sweetness definitely appears, and this is not overly present on the nose. Brown sugar, blackberries, and vanilla. Toffee (more burnt than anything) and red grapes become a bit more noticeable as the beer warms. My only complaint with this beer is that the sweetness comes across as a bit artificial. I'm not saying it is bad, but causes a slight imbalance in the experience. That said, I REALLY love this stout. The mouthfeel is very "big stout" in that it's thick and creamy.

 

 

Description: Appearance is glassy, black and no light gets through at all. It's smooth, with no head, and the beer sticks a bit to the side of the glass. Smell is bourbony...so very bourbony. There are also notes of dark fruits, especially cherries, as well as smoky, roasted hints. The beer claims to have some lactose but it's pretty muted. The taste is very bourbon forward, like the aroma, and it generally follows the nose with dark fruit. But there's noticeably more creamy sweetness with the lactose more apparent. The mouthfeel is phenomenal. It absolutely coats and covers your mouth, like you're drinking motor oil. Very smooth drinking.

Overall: 4.75 (This beer is excellent and I would definitely drink it again) What a beer. Outstanding in every way. I drank a Founders Maple Mackinac Fudge KBS right after this and it wasn't even close: this was much better. Like many of JO's barrel aged beers though, this was pricy. Overpriced? Maybe. Fantastic? Definitely.

 

12.7 ounce bottle, 2021 vintage. Served in a Jackie O's snifter, the beer pours dark brown/black with maybe a half inch tan head that didn't stick around for too long. Small amount of lacing. Aroma is nice, the brew smells like bourbon, vanilla, cream, brown sugar, molasses, oak and dark fruit. For the most part I think the taste is similar to the aroma, but there's the addition of some coffee, burnt/charred malt, earthy and nutty flavors. It's a sweeter tasting stout for sure, but not quite overpoweringly so. Mouthfeel/body is full, it's slick and smooth with a low/moderate amount of carbonation. It's a tasty stout with a good amount of barrel character, hoping I can find another bottle of this one to age! Certainly worth getting some if you come across it! $15.99 a bottle.

Poured an inky black with almost no head into a DFH tulip. Just a slight tan ring around the top. Smell was of bourbon, barrel, molasses and malty brown sugar. Taste follows the nose with a slight pleasant aftertaste of char. Mouthfeel was strangely slippery, maybe the lactose. It wasn't unpleasant so much as unexpected.

I figured Jackie O's would pull out the stops for a fifteen year anniversary and wasn't disappointed.

Look - thick black ink with a slight tan head and rimming
Smell - roasty sweet caramel and chocolate, and boozy... So much barrel
Taste - slight roasty with a caramel chocolate slight sweetness and woody
Feel - full body creamy light carb
Overall - really nice stout. Could use more body and less sweetness

Another fine-looking bottle from my favorite fiver29. 375ML of liquid with typically provoking Jackie O’s artwork.

Black with scarcely a whisper or bubble. One might even call it still. Molasses, bourbon, & suffusing sweetness in the nose.

XV Anniversary Stout is rich with…black licorice? It was evident cold & I thought my palate might be damaged but it’s still there. Strong, melodic Jägermeister with a corresponding slap of booze has the upper hand. Bourbon is swimming weakly upsteam alongside Crème Brûlée, sweet cocoa, dark earth & an air kiss of oak. Thick. Sticky. Easy on the throat & consciousness.

Nothing like confounded expectations. Black licorice isn’t my favorite (red Wiley Wallaby is my tender moment) & it’s strong here. Despite that a good beer at heart.

Dull black with a short bubbly tan head that dissipates quickly to a bubbly uneven ring.

Smell is intensely deep, rich and cask forward in ways that are impressively inoffensive to the nose. Roasted walnut, chocolate pie, cinnamon dusted date, spent cigar, and most importantly, no fusel burn.

Decadent without the added pastry ingredients, the oak and grain pair together in damn near full candy bar force. It's a little on the sweet end, at times exhibiting a touch of cola under nutty nougat and maple Raisinets, but it always comes back to a dampened mild char.

The smooth but medium body is slick with a fine but crackly carbonation, finishing warming and semi-sticky.

 

From the 12.7 oz bottle in a snifter. This exceptional
brew pours a dark obsidian with thin brown highlights and
and a light head of khaki foam that subsides to a thin ring, light
dusty layer, and shows faint lacing----yet, this one has some nice
legs! Nose of mellow bourbon, cream, dark cocoa, dark coffee,
vanilla, moderate char, brulee, black strap molasses, dark brown
sugars, light oak, and subtle marshmallow notes. Flavors surpass
the nose (which is a feat) with mellow bourbon, vanilla, dark cocoa,
dark coffee, cream, moderate char, brulee, dark fruit notes of black
and raspberry, mellow oak, and subtle tobacco. Excellent mouth feel;
full body, smooth, slick, coating, rich, low carbonation, and a lingering
bourbon fueled finish that is lightly dry and warming.

Overall----wow....Happy Anniversary Jackie O's! Can't wait to visit you
all again!

Buy this and vintage it!

Cheers!

Coffee and slight, mild bourbon in the nose. The nose is delightful but not strong or overwhelming. Molasses. No edges. Nothing sharp. So smooth. I like it more and more as I sniff and taste. I keep changing my scores ... until I land on 5 for every aspect. Opaque appearance, no head, clean, coffee, molasses, delightful, interesting, complex smell, wonderful, balanced, just smooth taste, smooth feel.

03/29/21 bottle @ home