Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Star: Spice Wars
Fremont Brewing Company

11/23/23 bottle @ home (2021 vintage)

Review: 2340
Name: Dark Star Spice Wars
Brewery: Fremont Brewing
Location: Seattle, WA
ABV: 12.7%
Style: Barrel-aged Oatmeal Stout
Canned: 2020
Date: 21 March 2025
I have a few of these barrel aged beers from Fremont to review. I am going to start with this one. A beer has winter spices of ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice. I am using a tulip glass and serving the beer at 54 degrees. The pour created a frothy, foamy, two-fingered light tan head with above-average retention. The slow dissipation left chunks of lacing on the glass. The color is inky black with dark mahogany hues, charting at SRM 34, and opaque. The overall appearance of the beer is above average for this style.
Nosing the glass, I smell cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, vanilla, dark roasted malts, bready, dark chocolate, medium roasted coffee, bourbon, char, wood, and malty sweetness. Smelling the glass again, I detect caramel, toffee, molasses, raisin, Maillard, anise, floral, grassy, and dark dried fruits.
The first sip, I taste cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, vanilla, dark roasted malts, molasses, dark caramel, toffee, dried cherries, anise, Maillard, bourbon, char, wood, dates, raisins, floral esters, resin, espresso, dark chocolate, oats, leather, and earthiness.
The mouthfeel is chewy and thick finishing smooth and a bit warming. The body is heavy and has low carbonation.
The spice combination in the beer gives a different vibe to an already delicious oatmeal stout. The ginger in the beer is a bit heavy handed for me. I might be sensitive to it, because I had one stout that was loaded with ginger and something else and that was undrinkable. I did enjoy this five year old beer and sipped on this beautiful afternoon in Idaho.

2020 vintage: 12.7% ABV

Poured from a 22 ounce bottle into a snifter at 55 degrees.

Look- Black, opaque, dark brown creamy head, above average head retention, average lacing.

Smell- Bourbon, cocoa, toffee, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, clove, vanilla, oak, high strength of scent.

Taste- Bourbon, cocoa, toffee, vanilla, cinnamon, clove, ginger, nutmeg, oak, highly boozy, high strength of flavor.

Feel- Full body, average carbonation, syrup like, highly mouth warming, moderately bitter, highly boozy, highly mouth coating, moderately creamy.

Overall- This beer provided an absolutely wonderful and complex experience. The appearance was nice with a deep black color and plenty of head retention. The nose was very vibrant and complex. The spices are prominent and complement the bourbon, cocoa and toffee well. The flavor is more bourbon and cocoa forward, with the spices being more subtle. The flavor is complex, boozy and delicious. The feel is flawless, with everything I could want from this style. I would happily buy this beer anytime I have the chance and next time I may try to drink it during winter to add to the experience.

Spice Wars Barrel Aged Dark Star 2021– from Fremont. Received from @snaotheus in a ninja strike during BSBIF#1. Reviewed 03/02/24 (Review 3239). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Printed on the bottom of the front label of the bomber “LIMITED 2021 RELEASE”. Stored at 34 degrees at home. Served at 55.9 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 60.0 degrees F.
Appearance – 4
First pour – Amber Brown (SRM 18), hazy.
Body – Black (SRM 40), opaque. Under direct light, same with tiny carbonation bubbles rising. When rear-lite, light penetrates at the bottom edge – ruby – and the top edge, citron.
Head - Average (Maximum two cm, aggressive center pour), brown sugar, high density with a few rocks, fizzy, short retention, leaving a 0.25 crown and no cap.
Lacing – None, as expected at 13.4% ABV.
Aroma – 4.5 – Sweet chocolate and hints of bourbon. No yeast, no hops, no malt, no spices, no alcohol (13.4 % ABV as marked on the label).
Flavor – 4.5 – Begins slightly sweet with chocolate and mild bourbon. No yeast, no hops, no roasted malt. On the aftertaste, mulled spices with cinnamon and clove standing out, no distinct vanilla, ginger, or allspice. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. No ethanol. A mild gastric warming seems weaker than expected from the ABV.
Palate – 4.5 – Full; creamy; soft but lively non-aggressive carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 4.5 A very pleasing impy oatmeal stout – both the bourbon barrels and the spices bring enhanced aroma and flavors.

2021 version. ABV 13.4%. Thick and treacly, the spices are front and center. However, this also was the strongest alcohol taste and smell of any of the bourbon barrel aged series that I’ve tried and I couldn’t really get past that. It was very decent but I probably won't have again.

Great bold flavors. Hints of chocolate, bourbon and dark rose. Desert beer and coordinates with most meals enjoy with steak and blue cheese.

 

22 ounce bottle into a snifter. 2021 edition, had 8/19/22.

Pours near black and opaque, with a quarter inch foamy head and sparse, soapy cling. Aromas of cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, malt, light bourbon, ginger as it warms. Smells smoky. Flavors of vanilla, roasted malt, bourbon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, light oak, cinnamon as it warms. Has a smoky taste. Smooth, a solid full body, appropriately carbonated.

Really enjoyed this one. The spices are brilliant in both the aroma and flavor, the barrels are tamed but impactful in the flavor. A solid base beer, too.

Poured into a snifter from a 22oz bomber - jet black motor oil pour with minimal foam.
whoa this is a big spice bomber here - aromas of ginger, cinnamon, nutmet, slight smooth vanilla, chocolate. Smells like holiday deliciousness.
Definitely getting the spices such as cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg. The spices dominate the flavor but you can also get some good rich chocolate in here along with that vanilla. You can taste the bourbon slightly but is covered up by all the different spices added. Getting that spice after taste on my tongue after drinking. Very well done!
Full bodied - chewy, easy to drink.
Overall I'm glad I got to try this. It's not my favorite of the barrel aged series by Fremont but it's worth a try if you love your stouts as much as I do.

 

 

Bottle: Poured a pitch-black color stout with a medium dark brown foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of chocolate notes with some bourbon notes with light vanilla with plenty of spices (cloves, ginger, cinnamon). Taste is also a nice mix of chocolate malt with bourbon and some strong spice notes of cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Body is about average for style with good carbonation and no real perceptible alcohol notes. Well brewed pastry stout with a nice mix of spices which provides a different style of pastry stout.

A Spice shop. Delicious. Chai taste. Plus. Smooth. However, this is a great example of a beer that is hard to drink more than six ounces of, it can rate high but drinkability another matter.

While the spices come across as mild, they completely change the nature of the base beer. It cuts the sweetness and doesn't add much to replace. The result is good but kind of bland.

 

Brownish black body with a pinky finger of brown foam. Smells of strong licorice, oat, dark chocolate, bourbon, oak, nutmeg and clove. The taste I enjoy more and more as it warms, so be patient with this one: it starts as it smells but then the cinnamon and other spices come in strong, leaving a bourbon backed root beer flavoring with leather, vanilla, and dark chocolate, while never losing the oatmeal and malt base. Feel is obviously spiced but makes the body a little lighter than normal, barrel also takes a backseat compared to others in the series. Was perfect on a cold and wet early spring day

 

Pours dark black. Aroma is definitely holiday spice -- nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon and a bit of chocolate. Taste is overpowered by the holiday spice. I'm a fan of Troegs Mad Elf's holiday spice flavor, but this one was too much for me. I didn't taste anything but the spice. Really nice, full mouthfeel.

Dark, opaque body; thick, densely spongy head, light khaki colored. Holiday spice aroma; cinnamon and allspice; cocoa powder and chocolate; nutmeg. Boozy, spicy, chocolate taste; milk chocolate; bourbon; snicker doodle cookies; mild booziness; light bitterness. Heavy mouthfeel; soft and spongy; mild to moderate alcohol heat.

This is a fine, smooth, easy drinking sipper. The base beer has a great oatmeal stout smoothness and lusciousness while the spices provided a complementary spark to the beer. The high ABV is noticeable but not overbearing.

Pouring temperature: 53 °F; bottling data: 2020 limited release