Imperial Porter Aged In Jack Daniel's Barrels
5 Seasons Westside

750ml bottle.

Pours deep opaque chocolate brown with a big tan head that recedes very quickly to a thin collar.

Aroma is really sweet with dark chocolate, vanilla and coconut. The oak is also very evident and some whiskey notes as well.

The taste is also has that interesting oaky sweetness, definitely some coconut and vanilla with the chocolate malts in the background. The oaky and whiskey is pretty strong in the finish.

Mouthfeel is pretty light actually, almost thin, with low carbonation and lots of toasted oak in the finish.

This is a decent BA porter but a little light in body for me. Pretty drinkable though.

On-tap at the brewpub.

Pours black with a half-finger tan head. The head recedes into a wispy layer on top leaving decent lacing.

Smells of lightly roasted malts with good amounts of semi-sweet chocolate and smaller amounts of oak. Also present are slight amounts of vanilla aromas.

Tastes very similar to how it smells. Smooth roasted malt flavors kick things off and are joined quickly by moderate amounts of semi-sweet chocolate flavors. Midway through the sip the roasted and chocolate flavors are smoothed over a bit with the addition of oak. Finally, very slight amounts of vanilla make a brief appearance before fading out into a moderately bitter finish.

Mouthfeel is OK. It's a bit on the thin side for the style with solid carbonation.

Drinkability is good. I finished my glass quickly and could easily have another.

Overall I enjoyed the base beer just as much as the barrel-aged version. The barrel influence was subtle but I didn't find that it added much that was worth the trouble. Still, a solid beer that's worth a shot to see for yourself.