Dark Hollow
Blue Mountain Brewery

 

1pint 9.4 oz bottle was a gift The stout has been in the frig for over a year just chilling. They say it will age well. The stout poured a deep, opaque black with a small tan head, followed by a tan collar on the beer. The aroma of dark chocolate, licorice, and roasted malts is quickly detected. There is a lingering bourbon aroma and flavors to enjoy. This is a special experience, drink slowly and enjoy. The stout did age well with a medium body and soft carbonation.

Pours black, tried to rouse a nice head with pour; a decent creamy looking light brown head form and had decent staying power considering the style, a nice little layer persists for a long while.

Nose at first, when cold, showed mostly char, roast, and oak; as it warms there is some dark chocolate, with hints of something licorice like.

Taste similarly has some nice char and roast to it, one thing I do notice is a nice and noticeable dose of oak; dry spicy wood that bites on the finish; pairs quite well with the dark chocolate that shows more and more as it warms.

Body is medium-high; some would say to thin but I like it, and it has a creamy carbonation that helps it drink silky smooth; high roast bitterness on the finish, the 10% is almost entirely hidden except for a light nasal bourbon warmth.

750 ml bottle from Rare Beer club. Pours black with tall, long lasting, creamy, brown head and nice lacing. Aroma is of roasted malt, toast, dark fruit, bourbon and vanilla. Body is full, creamy and slightly crisp. Taste is of spices, roasted malt, bourbon, vanilla, coffee, chocolate, brown sugar, dark fruit and herbal hops. Finish is long and spicy. Great IS.

With barely three months in bourbon barrels (cleverly advertised as "100 days"), there's good reason to doubt just how much the bourbon really added to the overall beer - itself a potent 10% ABV.

Aroma is a touch on the sour side, with strong notes of red grape, prune, raisin, oak, and bourbon mash; secondary notes of caramel, toffee, toast, and molasses. Does not impress as a particularly rich stout, but it does imply a quite roasty take on the style, which could be quite nice. Aroma is generally closer to the RIS style.

A touch hot on the palate, surprisingly up front. Suggests it may be thick but then fails to live up to that promise. Fairly short finish.

Tasting notes are similar to the nose: pecan, walnut, oak, chocolate, modest char, raisin, prune, molasses. There's a decent amount of bourbon flavor, but no one will mistake this for a 12 month aged special release. The flavor profile is more interesting and complex than Dragon's Milk (the closest comp), but the mouthfeel thinner.

Overall, this is a very good and very tasty BBA imperial stout, but it's not quite great. I'd be interested to try the flavored versions to see if they bring more to the table.

 

Pours an extremely opaque oil black, espresso colored head, great lacing. Fantastic.

Chocolate hits the nose first, with some espresso and a hint of nuttiness. It’s not super nuanced but oh man is it good.

Roasted malt hits the tongue, chocolate, cherries, some booze creeps in at the end. Bourbon in the finish and aftertaste Slightly metallic aftertaste brings it down a bit

Full bodied, lightly carbonated.

Overall it’s a dang good stout.

Poured from a16 oz bottle with an enjoy by date of 5/12/2023 into a snifter glass.
L - Pours a dark brown color with minimal tan head.
S - Smells of chocolate, coffee and booze.
T - Tastes of chocolate and bourbon with a slight bitterness.
F - Medium to full bodied with hardly any carbonation.
O - Nice boozy stout.

 

 

Pours a very dark color with a slight head and lacing
Aroma has chocolate hints
Taste follows the nose with a chocolate flavor
A medium bodied well carbonated beer
A good Stout

 

Wow. I had low expectations for this given the rating...

Preface by its been an ISO for 5 years since my non beer drinking coworker visited their brewery years ago and regularly wear a dark hollow shirt.

Pour is unreal. Head looks like a nitro guineas pour with tight frothy head.

Smell is so much richer than I expect for a 10% beer.

Taste is stellar

Feel is great.

Look - Great black along with a thick tan head and sticky lacing
Smell - dark chocolate caramel vanilla woody barrel scents
Taste - dark chocolate vanilla slight roasty wood bourbon and a slight bitter bite
Feel - full body with a medium light carb
Overall - pretty good classic BA stout

 

 

Cellared 12.7 oz bottle from VA ($6.77) with a cage and cork seal.
Pours with a near black body with just a thin film substituting for a proper head.
Promising aroma featuring the influence of a woody bourbon barrel.
The flavor is even better. It leans sweet for style, although the aftertaste is bitter.
The mouthfeel is disappointing. It thin to the point of being a bit watery.

Appearance:
The ominous black of a mountain’s maw. Hold a strong light to it and the weighted darkness doesn’t budge. When poured, a dim khaki gloam settles atop and provides sandy, unbroken lacing with stalwart retention.

Bouquet:
Unsweetened baker’s chocolate, cold vanilla, and gently sanded oak with minuscule droplets of chilled bourbon throughout.

Feel:
A full-bodied, velvet splash with a tranquil murmur of carbonation.

Taste:
Sugarless, toothsome dark chocolate draped in a delicate shawl of vanilla and permeated by soft oak. What follows is the gentlest bourbon heat, like feeling the sun’s warmth on a cool, autumn afternoon.