Fegley's Bourbon Barrel Aged Insidious
Allentown Brew Works

Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a Dogfish Head tulip

L: Dark black pour with 1.5 fingers of tannish head. Great retention and lacing.

S: Dark roast... bourbon and booze... vanilla and espresso with mild tartness.

T.F: Follows the nose. Dark roast and charred sugars. Coffee and bourbon... definite vanilla and oak. Some tartness from the roast... less sweetness than I was expecting and a little unbalanced. Medium bodied... well carbonated and sticky on the tongue. Dark chocolate comes in late... and the finish is boozy and warming.

O: A pretty average bourbon barrel Imperial Stout. Reasonable flavor but not exceptional. I'd have it again... wouldn't seek out.

 

 

This is one that I’m kicking myself for not trying sooner! This is a relatively local brewery and I have seen this around but never tried it. Pours a nice cola brown with a thin head. Lovely bourbon aroma. Complex flavors of vanilla, raisins, charred wood, with a slight bitterness. Moderate mouthfeel with light carbonation. I will be buying this again if I come across it!

Loved it.

Poured from pint can to teku glass. Looks black with a khaki head that fell to a ring. Smell is bourbon, vanilla, chocolate, roast malt, and dark fruits. Taste is bourbon, oak, cocoa. Sweet entry leads to a boozy middle. Finishes with dark fruit, bitter cocoa. Feel is medium-full with a good dose of carbonation. Relatively dry finish. Overall, pretty well done beer. The bourbon is clearly present and makes the beer more complex and enjoyable. Can says, "Do not age" but would be interesting to let it sit for a few months to see how bourbon quality rounds out.

 

12 ounce bottle poured into a Duvel tulip glass.

L---Darkes possible brown color. Fluffy, khaki head which faded quickly to a cap. Left good lacing.

S---Roasty malts. Chocolate & barrel are the most obvious. Lighter notes of coffee & vanilla.

T---Follows the nose. Chocolate & boozy barrel flavors dominate with coffee & vanilla in the background.

F---Full bodied. Creamy. No alcohol burn. Better carbonated than expected for the style & ABV.

O---An excellent effort by a quality brewery. It could use a little more bourbon flavor, though.

12oz bottle from Beer Peddlers. Dark brown, ring of beige head. Aroma is roast malts, chocolate and light barrel notes. Chocolate and malts in the taste, and again I'm not getting too much of the barrel. Maybe I shouldn't have had this after a J. Wakefield. A bit disappointing.

12 oz bottle, no date

Pours black with tan colored head. Boozy bourbon aroma. Taste is decent but the flavors are a bit harsh. Too acidic, the roast is harsh. Medium bodied.

 

 

I don't understand why this beer isn't rated higher. This is hands down, my favorite beer. I love the huge espresso and vanilla nose. I love the syrupy, gooey, thick mouthfeel. I love the rich caramel, toffee, vanilla, and dark chocolate flavors. I love the warmth the slight booziness brings to the finish. I Love This Beer : - )

Pours pitch black with appropriate mocha head that hangs around a bit. Aroma is a bit yeasty, chocolate and bourbon prevail. Taste is a bit tangy, tastes like chololate covered cherries. Barrel rounds out the creamy mouthfeel with a lingering finish of chocolate, vanilla, light roast coffee. Light bodied for the style yet quite flavorful, worth buying a 4 pack and revisiting annually to see how it developed.

4/11/18
12 oz bottle, no date, about 1.5 years old
4 rating

6/12/20 - revisited. Not very good...

 

 

 

 

Poured from a bottle into pint glass in Jult 2017. There was no bottled on date, but drank it less than a week after purchase.

Appearance: Dark black with a medium tan/brown head. Head is thicker than some other imperial stouts, and left more lacing on the glass than other imperial stouts.

Smell: Strong aroma of roasted coffee, toasted malts, and bourbon. There is some bitter aroma like hops, and a hint of sweetness like chocolate and caramel as well, but overall the roasted coffee and bourbon dominate the others.

Taste: There is a nice balance between the roasted malts, the coffee flavors, bitterness from hops, and sweetness. The chocolate and berry sweetness is more pronounced than the bitter hop flavors, but the bitterness does enhance the taste and add some complexity. There is a strong alcohol presence as with other Imperial Stout.

Mouth-feel: Very thick, but with a smooth body, that is not too creamy.

This is a nice, complex, strong Imperial Stout, and it has a variety of flavors that adds a nice complexity to the beer. Although this is a big beer, it is very smooth and really enjoyable to drink. I will buy this again.

An interesting comparison is with the imperial stouts from another local brewery Weyerbachers, including: Sunday Mole Stout, Sunday Morning Stout, and Tiny Stout. I really enjoy all three Weyerbachers stouts and drink them often. Fegleys Insidious is most similar to Weyerbachers Tiny Stout, but is a nice contrast to them. The combination of barrel aging and the sweetness makes this unique, and enjoyable. I've rated all 4 of these imperial stouts very closely, and my ratings are:

1) Sunday Morning Stout: look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75
2) Sunday Mole Stout: look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
3) Insidious Stout: look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
4) Tiny Stout: look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

UPDATE: bought a 4-pack in Dec 2020 with a bottled date of Dec 1, 2020. Still very good. I really like the combination of usual stout flavors with subtle bourbon and chocolate flavors. The bourbon and chocolate flavors were more pronounced than I remembered from previous drinkings. Still a great drink.