Bourbon Barrel Imperial Coffee Stout
Fegley's Bethlehem Brew Works

Picked up a 16 oz can from the Shangy's cooler while in Emmaus, PA on 9-23-25 for $6.99. Undated can; consumed 11-14-25. Cold stored since purchase.

Beer poured black with a short tan head that disappeared quickly.

Nose has notes of mold roasted malts that yields chocolate. The barrel lends a nice touch of vanilla and some excess alcohol.

Taste is a mild roasted malt base that reveals chocolate malts. The barrel lends a touch of vanilla and a shot of bourbon with each sip. Finishes uneven with a fusel alcohol burn on the back of the palate.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and both soft and smooth.

Overall, not a bad beer, but it seems like it was rushed to packaging too soon.

 

Poured this from a six month old can and only realized that just as I opened it. This fact might have put me off of buying a coffee stout in the first place. if I’d noticed at purchase, but this turned out to be the best beer I’ve had from this brewery across quite a few years. Coffee is just a suggestion here, integrated into the whole, but that’s preferable to the stale coffee or even green pepper notes one might encounter in this scenario. Instead we get a full bodied rich and boozy stout with prominent dark fruit notes and lots of tawny port vibes - right up my alley. It’s definitely sweet but there’s tons of complexity and it’s not cloying for me. It’s close to flat (almost no head or lace at all following an assertive pour) and it’s a little sticky but with the vinousness, the alcohol presence on the palate, subtle black licorice, this hits my sweet spot (no pun intended). It’s immensely enjoyable and for me way more drinkable than many pastry stout- style beers. Will definitely buy a few more cans if I see them again before they’re gone.

I had this a few years ago and very much enjoyed the coffee and bourbon flavors. Now it seems to have been overpowered by the bourbon taste.

Can date was like Jan 2020 6 months young. Look guys, there's an reason the brewer states on the can drink fresh do not age because this (my favorite style of beer) DOES NOT AGE. That being reiterated (cool Sunday AM word) this beer is huge. Aroma and taste of chocolate, bourbon, coffee, soy. Smooth all day, could have easily rated this 5's across the board. Even better, 1/2 price sale $5 an pint, yes, I'll go get the rest tomorrow.

 

 

**
04/07/2018

On tap at Bethlehem Brewworks.

Solid beer, but flawed which makes it hard to compete in this style.

I like the idea of adding coffee to this beer, but not sure you can really smell or taste it behind the bourbon. Maybe too young; bartender told me this batch was pretty fresh. It is definitely hot, so maybe needs to mellow out for all the flavors to mettle out appropriately, but I didn't notice much improvement in aging the Fegleys BBA Stout without the coffee.

The aroma and taste both hit as a bourbon bomb, Some notes of roasted barley, chocolate, coffee (i guess) hit later.

The mouthfeel was a tad more full bodied and stickier than I remember the other Fegleys stout.

Overall, it is solid and tasty. I would order it again on tap, but would love to get a bottle of this to age and see how it goes.

**

Poured into a 16 oz Magnify Snulip glass not sure when it was bottled. Pours a very near pitch black, with a 3 plus finger head that leaves this wisps of lace as it slowly settles into a thin layer of mocha bubbles.

Smell is strong roasty coffee, deep dark chocolate, vanilla bean, Oak, leather, tobacco, and charred bourbon.

Taste follows strong roasty expresso and dark chocolate upfront, with oaked vanilla, tobacco, leather, and a big bourbon/Alcohol flavor scratches your tongue and lingers awhile.

Mouthfeel is on the big side, enough carbonation but kind of creamy, a tad dry as you would expect from a beer like this, and it is very approachable for its size and big alcoholic presence.

Overall a very big and complex BA Stout, that even though it was aggressive had it not complexities to make it very enjoyable. Thanks jzeilinger for this one.

Revised on 4-6-20 with the most current batch.

A - Dark brown/pitch black colored pour with thick, creamy, toffee colored lacing.

S - Chocolate, cocoa, bourbon, oak, delicate cherry aroma.

T - Chocolate, light coffee char, toasted cocoa, bourbon, vanilla, with some oak char and tannin. Nice lingering coffee chocolate char on the backside with a slight bit of smoke.

M - Thick and silky body with some warming on the way down. Lip smacking sticky.

O - This is a significant improvement over the previous batch and much better blended. Nice vanilla, oak, and bourbon mix.