Big Money Oak Porter
St. Paul Brewing

 

 

Appearance: Very dark brown, big head.

Smell: Chocolate, woody.

Taste: Follows the smell, chocolate, bitterness, woodiness.

Drinkability: All I can say is that it's quite drinkable, but I don't recommend drinking an entire growler on NYE.

Picked up a growler for NYE, stupidly drank it all without eating enough. So Jan. 1 was a day of sleeping it off. The beer was tasty, though I expected a little more flavor to be imparted by the wood--the note said bourbon and port wood--but all I got was a generic woodiness. The chunk of wood in the growler was interesting.

Shared at a birthday party for the ageless DBHog who is turning 40 this fine November. I had no idea he had a grudge against Flat Earth for a recent growler explosion - well, at least we got to see the phone video of the aftermath!

On that note, the hiss & pop was a bit violent & spattered a little Big Money on my dark shirt (this is called good planning). Passing the growler around, the smell on this baby is gorgeous. Deep vanilla, spanky malts, coffee, all meld together to give one the shakes from anticipation.

And after all that, Big Money is a bit of a let down on the palate. I really enjoy the base porter, but this one didn't seem well put together. The taste was harsh, bits and pieces of bourbon with a background of wood, with the porter seeming to float around clashing with the other ingredients. As it warmed, the harshness persisted. Not sure if it was the roasted coffee or hops gone haywire, but it had an impact on the taste & drinkability.

Pretty good beer, but not one I'd seek out again. Mundane in the multiverse of oak-bourbon brews.

Had at Firkin Fest 2010.

Pours no head. Color is a dark copper hued brown.

Aroma: Rich milk chocolate, slight oak, grassy hops, and caramel. Sweet and malty.

Taste: Rich chocolate and coffee with some roasted malts. Slight caramel flavors here. The JD oak chips are more apparent and I like it. Great porter.

Mouthfeel: Smooth and refreshing. Low carbonation with a medium to full bodied. Ends dry.

Overall, a great porter. Much better than regular cygnus. The JD oak chips add a nice layer to this beer.

Huge, huge thanks to Justn for sending this one my way. I cannot believe that more people did not go after this one. A little but about it:

An oak infused Cygnus. We've been soaking oak chips in Jack Daniel's for the last few months. We've then infused each Big Money growler with a few chips and let the beer and the chips get all happy together in the growler.

Served cold from the growler and poured into several pint glasses, this one was consumed on 01/25/2010.

The pour was fantastic. Dark brown in color with only the lightest touch of light shining through in the bottom giving it a touch of a light reddish color. Nice head of tan comes creeping up the sides of the glass and settles down nicely into a big foamy top that stands guard for the rest of the session. Umm, there are chunks of wood floating in here! Yep, that would be right, pieces of JD infused oak chips are still inside the growler. Interesting. I did not know how I would feel about this initially, but after I was done with 4 pints of it, I really have to say I think it worked! Anyway, aroma is not as heavy as one would think given the fact that the chips were still in it. It imparts a mellow, subtle vanilla and oak aroma that blends very well with the smooth coffee and smoked malts that were prevalent underneath it all. Nicely done and the more it warmed, the more mellow and sublime it became. Each sip was simply stunning, smoked and roasted malts that left alone would make this alone of the best I have had in a while, were subtly and completely transformed by this wonderful presence. Vanilla and woody notes coming through on the palate as well as a subtle backlash of whiskey all seemed to be just perfectly placed. Creamy, rich medium bodied feel was just stunning and really let the flavor pop. Each sip subtly sweeter then the one before, it was really just amazing as to how good this really was. No clue as to how high they managed to get this one, but it did not come across as terribly strong, and in fact really was quite session able.

Overall I was simply amazed by this one. I had intended to only have a couple but ended up destroying the entire thing by the end of the night. That alone should stand testament as to how good this really was. An amazing idea that really carried forward very, very well.