Barrel Aged B.O.R.I.S. Royale
Hoppin' Frog Brewery

 

22 oz bottle, vintage 2019, poured into a tulip glass at 55 degrees F:
L - dark and oily with a dark hazelnut head that lingered around the edges
S - whiskey, molasses
T - nice blend of whiskey, molasses, brown sugar, roasted malt
F - thick mouthfeel with minimal carbonation
O - exceptional beer

 

 

Black with little nut-colored foam but with sufficient hold. Chocolate, coffee and ash grounds, toasts and burns, licorice, dehydrated plum, light vanilla and whiskey. On the palate, chocolate and dark fruit begin a journey with a very long finish where rich roasts, ashes, bitter tones meet, and the chocolate starts again. Abv that warms and embraces the drink. Full body and low carbonation.

Hoppin' Frog Barrel Aged BORIS Royale Imperial Oatmeal Stout, 9.4% ABV. Pours dark black with some bubbles, so no lacing here. Nose is oak, coffee, dark fruit, and a hint of chocolate. Taste follows, plus moleasses and tobacco, slightly sweet, slightly bitter, with coffee aftertaste. Undercarbonated but thick and smooth mouthfeel. Overall outstanding.

Deep brown black, little head on this one. Roasted coffee, dark chocolate and dark fruits, molasses like sweetness complements whiskey oak tones. Round and warming, viscous. Pretty good

22 ounce bottle, no dating that I noticed on it. Served in a snifter, the beer pours dark brown/black with about an inch tan head that stuck around a little while. Small amount of lacing. I like the aroma, the brew smells like roasted malt, whiskey (rye or otherwise spicy), vanilla, dark fruit, oak and dark chocolate. For the most part I think the taste is similar to the aroma, but there's also the addition of some fudge, coffee, dark bread, burnt/charred malt and earthy flavors noticeable too. Mouthfeel/body is medium/full, it's a bit coating with a moderate amount of carbonation. Overall I liked this, but it's not my favorite of the B.O.R.I.S. brews/variants that I've tried. With that being said, it's still better than a lot of brews and a good imperial stout that's worth picking up!

 

 

12 oz bottle into a Stella Artois gold rimmed glass that everyone has

Deep inky dark black with a thin ring of head and sparse lacing.

Wonderful, wonderful whiskey aromas complimented by black licorice, dark chocolate, marzipan, and caramel sauce. Slight cherry pie in the distance.

Flavor is straight tobacco to start, followed by prunes and dark chocolate, some sharp dry whiskey presence, the cherry pie aspect, and caramel. I'm between a 4 and 4.25 on this one.

Feel is thick and slick, not particularly chewy, but has a nice heavy alcohol heat and a good whiskey dryness.

Overall a pretty damn fine barrel aged stout, I would go back for more at $6 a bottle, definitely worth it.

No bottle stamp anywhere (but I’m assuming this is 2018 release).

Viscous, Black pour. No rising head of any kind, just flat darkness that settles into the glass.

On the nose I’m getting bourbon, malt, and chocolate, with hints of smoked oak and black licorice. Predominantly sweet, with an increased potency of spicy booze as it warms.

The barrel presence on this beer is really great; if you’re familiar with Appervation (Jackie O’s / Side Project collab), it reminds me of a slightly more “poor man’s” version of that beer, but that is very much meant as a compliment. Tobacco, spicy bourbon, charred oak, and burnt coffee bean flavors, with undertones of molasses and cacao nibs.

Syrupy smooth and with good viscosity. Medium-bodied, with a low carbonation. The finish is sticky-sweet and with a boozy warmth on the tail.

 

This one pours a fairly dark black color, with a small head, and not much lacing.

This smells like roasted malt, light smoke, toasted oak, boozy bourbon, and dark chocolate.

Like most Hoppin' Frog stouts, this runs old-school, with bitter roast and a bit of spicy bourbon and booze, along with deep waves of dark chocolate, some tobacco and smoke, and a little bit of coffee.

This is a little bit thin, but nicely creamy, with not too much booziness. It's drinkable enough.

Even though a lot of breweries have passed them by, I still definitely enjoy Hoppin' Frog stouts.

12 oz bottle poured into a shaker pint.

Appearance
Oily black. No light penetration. Short, creamy dark brown head.

Nose
Canadian whisky, chocolate, coffee, and caramel.

Taste
Canadian whisky, caramel, white oak, tobacco, and earth. Cocoa and coffee.

Mouthfeel
Full bodied, silky, oily, and smooth. Hides the abv tremendously well.

Overall
It's not too complex but it's insanely smooth.

 

 

 

 

12 oz (!) bottle @ home. I love it that I don't have to finish a bomber by myself anymore. Jet black colour. Brown head with little retention. Aroma's of coffee, mocha, dark chocolate, some red fruit, umami. Retronasal there's quite a bit of fruit, light alcohol/booze, roasted malts. Flavour is moderate sweet, roasted, dark chocolate. Alcohol feel is not too strong or burning. Medium bodied. Long finish with firm roast, moderate bitter. Good stuff!

 

 

Opaque dark brown body; lush, thick and frothy head; evidence of foamy stickiness on the inside of the glass. Roasted grain and soft brown sugar aroma; a trace of booziness. Heavy cocoa flavor with an edge of whiskey. Heavy and hearty mouthfeel; rich and chewy with residual sugar heft; primarily sweet overall (but not intense and cloying); some boozy warmth and heat.

Classic Frog B.O.R.I.S. offering, rich and luxurious on many fronts. Chewy and delightful RIS, hearty and soul-satisfying.

These past few have been good days for me to delve into my stash of RISs & see what's what in Whoville. Ooh, looky here! Another of my many purchases from the Friendly Greek Bottle Shop (FGBS). This'll work!

From the Bottle: "Fortunate is he who, in the name of brewing and good beer, shepherds the weak through the valley of macrobrews. For he is truly his brother's keeper, and the finder of lost taste buds. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my beer. AND YOU WILL KNOW MY NAME IS B.O.R.I.S. WHEN I LAY MY FLAVORS UPON YOU."; "In today's fast-paced world, it's often difficult to find the quality that discriminating people deserve. For those who search for this long lost, undying commitment to the very best, let it be known that one beer will not be compromised - Hoppin' Frog!"; "They call it 'Royale with Wood'"; "60 IBU".

I'm not really drinking this one in search of its IBUs, but fair dinkum. I Pop!ped the cap & began a C-Line pour, only to be taken aback as it really foamed up & then started a pseudo-cascade, settling into two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, deep-brown head with moderate retention. It suddenly exhaled & fell away to wisps, leaving only minor lacing in its wake. I could smell the booziness from the whiskey from across the room! Phew! Mouthfeel was as though a dollop had been scooped into my mouth & onto my tongue! Enough with the exclamation points! The taste was at once dark chocolate, fudge brownies, light charcoal smoke and a dram of Irish (not Scotch) whiskey. It wasn't THAT smoky. I remember a liquor & liqueuer-filled boxof chocolates that I bought for an Irish mavourneen on Valentine's Day. She really dug them, but one of them tasted a LOT like this. Chocolate-enrobed whiskey. Phew! This was enough to make my head begin to swim. Finish was hot, dry & boozy, no playin' around. I feel like I may have gotten a bargain.

 

I have enjoyed a few of these beers from Hoppin' Frog. The make delicious dark beers. The beer is 50 degrees and served in tulip glass. When I poured the beer, I could see how thick it was. The pour on the beer yielded a one finger head that is dark brown. The head is creamy and billowy. The retention of the head is fair, considering the high alcohol content. The head left no lacing on the glass. The color of the beer is SRM 36 a dark brown nearly black beer. The beer is opaque.

The initial aroma in the beers is dark roasted malts, whiskey, and char. Next, I smell, molasses, burnt sugar, chocolate, dark roasted coffee, wood, smokiness, anise, earth, toffee, raisins, bread, floral, grass, cereal, oats, and grapefruit.

The flavors in the beer are alcohol, dark roasted malts, whiskey, char, Maillard, bread, raisins, cereal, oats, molasses, burnt sugar, toffee, caramel, oats, dark chocolate, medium roast coffee, floral esters, smokiness, fire, anise, earthy, wood, whiskey, grass, and resin.

The mouthfeel of the beer is chewy and silky.

The body of the beer is full, low carbonation, and full finish.

This beer is a monster. The beer has a chewiness yet silky mouthfeel that gives the beer serious body. It reminds me of the Grand Reserve beer I drank, but this has much more barrel age notes. Impressive beer a must try.

Ooompah! What a brew! This fine imperial pours a sturdy brownish black
with a moderate head of tan foam that settles to a thin ring with light
sudsy lacing. Nose of fudge, coffee, light char, whiskey, vanilla, and
subtle oak. Flavors follow the nose with aplomb. Dark chocolate fudge
dances about a layer of rich brown sugar sweet whiskey with hints of
vanilla and touches of oak over a bed of lightly bitter coffee and char
with subtle touches of marshmallow creme and wafts of dark fruits.
Excellent mouth feel; full body, smooth, rich, warming, low carbonation,
and a rich cocoa and whiskey finish.

Another excellent offering from an excellent brewery!

Cheers

 

22oz bottle from Sherlock’s (Marietta, GA). 15.99. No identifiable bottling date. Served in a Barrel and Barley teku. Enjoyed 12/11/18.

Pours oil black with a generous khaki head. The foam takes a while to fade but once it’s gone there is no remaining retention.

Smells of sweet whiskey glaze, cocoa, an earthy woodsy vanilla, some barrel char and over cooked caramel. While the aroma is quite nice it seems somehow shrouded or subdued.

The flavors are rich and robust. Burnt fudge, cooked caramel, whiskey, wet charred wood, toast, dark roast coffee and a cooling nip of alcohol.

Velvety, smooth full body with gently fizzing carbonation. Bittersweet aftertaste with notes of whiskey-soused burnt fudge.

Hoppin’ Frog has once again tweaked their benchmark RIS. Barrel Aged BORIS Royale is a solid barrel aged stout. It’s a tough value proposition but a tasty brew.

2017 edition poured from a 22oz bottle into a snifter
A: Pitch black, thin head
S: Cocoa, coffee, vanilla, caramel, bourbon
T: Brownie, vanilla, bourbon, not quite as complex as the nose but plenty tasty
M: Full-bodied, smooth
O: Very good barred aged stout as is to be expected from Hoppin’ Frog just not quite the best I’ve had from them

 

"Royale with wood" Man I can't pass that up.
Pours thick and rich. Black like oil with a rather small dark tan head that settles out into a ring rather quickly.
Aroma is not as rich as I'd expect and holds only faint markers of anticipation of wood and bourbon. Get some rich malt of the RIS but for style it's amazingly light.
Flavor comes through much better. I like the balance of the wood and bourbon although it may to too light for some. It's a much more balanced approach with a blending of what feels like a fairly young RIS. Still holds a bit of a sharp malt bite. More dark fruit and roast is held back. Rich roast drying on the finish with a richness moving towards sweetness. Hops are blended but there if you seek them out. They don't cut the bite much but add some depth. As it warms a little bit of vanilla sneaks in with the latent bourbon.
This is bigger than moderate and quite smooth.
I'll admit to some disappointment on this, Boris was one of the early RIS holding envy for those in search of when I started all of this some 18 or so years ago. Obviously there are many RIS worthwhile now and so much more, so I desired to give it a go. Glad I did.
Still a perfectly fine beer. Wood and whiskey should probably be amped up some, but enjoyable nonetheless.
This also my first 2000th review. I had a couple of other options, but I've moved to just reviewing worthwhile beers since I'm at this point and stumbled onto this one as next one. Mostly likely few mediocre beers from now on, unless it's not anticipated to be so. Also a lot more beers that won't be reviewed. 2000 is enough to say I've accomplished my original goal of learning about beer and beer flavors. It been a wonderfully long strange trip and now moving on to other pursuits.

 

 

Look is stellar and smell bad me hooked. Taste is solid with roast and dark chocolate but the barrel aging tastes more like moonshine than whiskey. It's got an ethanol taste that is similar to vodka that just doesnt mesh. Feel falls short and is thin.

Overall still the best hoppin frog ive had to date. But I still stand by they're overpriced for mediocre beer and it's why you see every offering on every shelf in ohio.

The last time I bought a hoppin frog was maybe 3 years ago for the above reason. This beer gives a LITTLE redemption compared to what I've had in the past. I'll likely pick up a toris in the next few months. If it doesnt wow me I'll probably pass on them from now on in the future.

 

Jet black with a somewhat short lived head. Pretty standard for the style. Lovely roast, bourbon, burnt molasses, licorice and tobacco aromas. Intense roast continues on the palate imparting earthy, tobacco tones. Aggressive herbal, earthy hops compliment very well. Bourbon is subtle and tends to soothe the palate in the finish and add a touch of sweetness. Dense, full body with a slightly grainy texture. Solid carbonation for the style. Overall and excellent barrel aged expression of the classic RIP.

Pours very thick and viscous, pitch black and impervious to light, nice foam head. Very big aromas of chocolate malt and delicious bourbon barrel, dark coffee. Rich and creamy, full bodied, very flavorful. Lots of chocolate and coffee, bourbon barrel comes through very nicely, dark brown sugar as well. Loads of roasted malts and a bit yeasty. This is surprisingly thick and chewy for such a low abv... but not surprising since it is a Hoppin Frog beer. Overall this is a fine example of the style. Not overly sweet (like BCBS), fairly dry finish, slightly boozy. LOVE the 12 oz bottle format. Amazing beer considering the 9.4%abv.

8/26/18
12 oz bottle
4.5 rating