11th Anniversary Barrel-Aged Stout
Fremont Brewing Company

Bomber at share courtesy of Derek. Near black pour with small, foamy brown head. Boozy, sugary aroma.Taste is chocolate, bourbon and vanilla coupled with a nice amount of warmth. Super smooth and tasty.

Poured at 55°. Dark tan mousse-like head with rocks turns creamy; ok cap retention; heavy ring; some sudsy lace; black body with ruby edges; heavy legs on swirl. Bourbon, oak, dark fruit nose with boozy exhale. Tart dark cherries up front!; bourbon, chocolate; oak and vanilla as beer warms; chocolate bourbon ball candy finish. Smooth lux feel, but not adjuncty; medium plus body; slight alcohol bite on tip of tongue; moderate minus carbonation; some warmth in mouth from 12.2% abv. Overall delicious!; great balance of cherry tartness, chocolate base and bourbon barrel flavors; I like cherries and the blend here of semi sweet chocolate, tart cherries and bourbon hits all the high points for me; like drinking a bourbon ball cherry cordial candy.

 

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing opaque in the glass with a thin khaki head that dissipates to patches with light lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, bourbon, dark stone fruit, vanilla and a hint of cocoa. Flavor follows, with dark toasted malt, bourbon, vanilla, light oak, milk chocolate, mild cherry and plum. Medium bodied with silky moderate creaminess, great mouth feel. As expected, a very fine blended stout. The bourbon is a clear note, and the cherry is light and well integrated. Vanilla and oak are present mostly in the finish, which also has some lingering dried cherry with just a touch of tartness. I'm generally not a fan of fruit flavors in stouts, but Fremont has always kept the fruit to a light contributing flavor and that is true here as well. Rich and flavorful, with an excellent mouth feel that enhances all the other flavors. I should have drunk this sooner, and the arrival of the 13th Anniversary barleywine reminded to get to this. It has held up wonderfully. Fremont is one the stellar stout brewers in the country and this is a great one.

Waxed and capped bottle received in a previous Bif . First bottle opened on vacation , don’t have my notes . Giving credit to @colts4026 or @snaotheus

Brewers Notes: An exclusive blend of barrel-aged imperial stouts:

Stout aged in 8-10 years old Heaven Hill bourbon barrels
Stout aged in 8-10 years old Heaven Hill bourbon barrels with tart Montmorency and Dark Tart cherries from Royal Ridge Fruits in Royal, WA
Stout aged in ex-bourbon vanilla extract barrels

Down & dirty: Maris Otter, Munich, Carafa 1 Special, roast barley, Dark Crystal, rolled oats and flaked barley with US Magnum and US Golding hops

Poured into a pint glass results in a dense creamy velvety brown three finger foam cap , settles to a ring over black motor oil

Aroma is bourbon , tobacco , licorice, roast malts, hint of cherries

Taste is bourbon, tobacco, licorice, coffee, cherry notes,

Mouthfeel is lush, velvety , syrupy

Delicious beer

 

Look: really dark brown. Slight cola highlights around the edges when held to light. Mocha head that recedes to a ring.
Smell: roasty bourbon toffee, dark fruit.
Taste: like the nose, add brown sugar, cherries and a slight char in the finish.

 

 

 

 

 

Had on tap. Pitch black body with a brown collar. Best of the four anniversary beers I tried at the brewery. Take the 2019 but add more earth, smoke and oak in both smell and taste. In the taste I get a hint of peat too. Cherry is more fruitlike than dessert which is appreciated, vanilla dollop on the backend melds into the oak and dark chocolate well. Feel is still soft and smooth but with a greater booziness.

Appearance: Pitch black with slight viscosity. Half inch brown head that disappeared quickly.

Smell: dark fruits, chocolate, and bourbon. Fragrant notes of vanilla as it warms up.

Taste: first thing thar came to me are tart cherries. The tartness doesn’t overwhelm the palate but as the beer warmed up, the cherries quickly became more pronounced. Plenty of chocolate, some vanilla but remains faint. Bourbon all around but not enough to rein in the tart cherries.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, slight warmth at the finish

Overall: This one was not bad, it tasted phenomenal when cold but as it warmed up, there was more tart cherries then I preferred. I did see other reviews here saying the cherries were not too heavy. Taste is subjective and I’m glad to see many others enjoying this.

This one pours a dark black color, with a small head, and not much lacing.

This smells like dark chocolate, dark fruit, spicy oak, vanilla, chocolate-covered dried cherry, roasted malt, smoke, and espresso.

This is fascinating and delicious blend. That little bit of extra vanilla, on top of the earthy vanilla you sometimes get from regular bourbon barrels, is just wonderful. There's some cookie dough, spicy oak, and leathery bourbon, on top of a wisp of smoke and a dark roast coffee flavor. The cherries are very mild here, giving a dark and dry character on the back end. I'm happy they are mild - they are a subtle undertone rather than a fruity aggressor.

This is creamy and rich, with a nice warming feeling to it. It's not too hot, but it's definitely a slow sipper.

This deserves the high ratings that it's getting so far. It's quite wonderful.

Poured from a silver waxed 22 ounce bottle. Pours a thick black with about half a fingers worth of foamy head. The foam dissipated after about 15 seconds. I get a lot of the bourbon on the nose. I know cherries and vanilla were in the blended barrel, but I'm not getting that at all on the nose. On first taste, chocolate stuck out with a bit of the bourbon on the back. As it started to warm, the tart cherry started to show, but it wasn't overwhelming, which worked very well. I'm glad I took this one solo and slow, as the vanilla did start to show up, but It took quite a while as it warmed. It had an average body and was a nice sipper.

 

Phenomenal (but still overpriced?) imperial stout from one of the best, most consistent stout-makers I've ever sampled.

A: Pitch black and oily pour with a mocha-colored head that surprisingly sticks around for a few moments.

S: Lots of dark, rich malt character, mild sweetness and booze, notes of licorice and dark cherry as well as some ashy molasses and dark vanilla.

T: Dark chocolate, roasted malts, charred oak, dark cherries, licorice, molasses, with vanilla sweetness and mild dark fruit tartness competing well.

MF: Full-bodied and smooth, some latent heat, fairly viscous.

O: A delicious stout, very roasty and malty with complementary notes of barrel, char, vanilla, licorice, and cherries.

 

Big ups to JohnGalt1 for this bottle amongst other Fremonts (yes, plural, I must have some good karma) that arrived not long ago. 22oz. bottle split with my wife.

Hard black with a big whitish head that sticks. Nose is pure stout: big malts, slight roast, bourbon. No cherries on the nose. Glad.

Fremont 11th Anniversary Stout: decadent. Rich, rich malts bring forth chocolate brownie & molasses followed by just a hint (& that’s bloody enough!) of dark fruit. Slight roast/ash in the middle followed by lush bourbon that smooths everything out & brings the stout home with a bare kiss of vanilla. This is no pastry stout, just a standard old big stout that one could take home & cuddle an entire bottle of.

Excellent beer. But I would expect no less.

Pours black, moderately thick, with a full finger of dense head. Cherry cordials on the nose, with a candy sweetness that thankfully doesn't find its way onto the palate. Occasional sharp barrel character that punches through the tart cherry, which is the dominant flavor. Fudgy chocolate and the distinctive flavor of Montmorency, which is unfortunately not my favorite cherry. Some rye and peppery notes near the finish which surprised me. Vanilla emerges more as the beer warms.

 

 

 

 

Skeptical about dropping $30 on this. Only bought 1 bottle, with a limit of 2.

Worth it? Yes, but not for a 2nd bottle. Definitely get the cherry and tartness, but it works incredibly well with the barrel character. Nice thick mouthfeel like a Stout should. But not syrupy. Good job.

Beautiful chocolate aroma and flavor, with a cool vanilla taste on the backend. Overall an excellent beer and one of the best from Fremont. Hope to see the 12th anniversary of this in 2021.

Highly recommended.

650 mL bottle. Black body with a big khaki head. Smells of bourbon, hefty chocolate, oats. Tastes of chewy oats, chocolate, bourbon, vanilla. The back end has hints of dark fruits that might be the cherry. Chewy but not overly heavy or sweet. Not to say it isn't sweet, but it's worth it. Excellent.

Oh my sweet hell. Is there hell? No, I don’t care. Because I’m in heaven. This one is like Stout filtered through crystals. My word... Where am I? Do I exist? Do you? Can I achieve my dreams? Right now, this beer makes me feel that I can. I can.

Poured from fridge temp. Pours midnight black with a nice amount of light brown head. Bourbon is immediately evident when upon first sniff. Chocolate, toffee, cherries, slight Mexican spice, figs, vanilla, and maybe a hint of citrus peel. Interesting nose, and quite unique among BA stouts. The taste is decadent and smooth. Vanilla is quite strong initially. Bourbon, milk chocolate, spice, plums, figs, slight coffee notes, cherries, and lactose. A tart note is coming through near the end and on the aftertaste - I guess that's the tart cherries coming through. Definitely a fruity and barrel-heavy stout. Mouthfeel is thick and creamy. The alcohol is barely noticeable. Overall, I'm really enjoying this stout. For the price ($30), however, I probably wouldn't buy it again.

 

 

 

22 oz. Bomber
Silver Wax/Capped
Limited 2020 Release

Poured into a Tree House glass a very nice dark brown/black color, with some very nice carbonation, with a very nice thick/creamy one-finger plus tan head, which also leaves a very nice medium size island, and some pretty nice sticky lacing behind. The nose is very nice, malty, hoppy, with a very nice touch of dark chocolate/toffee, with a very nice dark fruit complex (cherries, grapes, figs, prunes, dates) very nice bourbon/oak note, vanilla, with some licorice, The taste is awesome, malty, hoppy, with a very nice touch of dark chocolate/toffee, with a very nice dark fruit complex (cherries, grapes, figs, prunes, dates) very nice bourbon/oakyness, very nice vanilla sweetness, licorice. Full Body, ABV is hidden very nicely, a very tasty complex brew, awesome sipper. Overall, this is one pretty awesome brew. Definitely nice to see this one around here. Highly Recommended!

 

 

L: Black as pitch, brown at the fringes. Slowly the bubbles waft up to a finger of dark espresso cream with low retention to a wide ring with a variety of bubble sizes.

S: The most divine bourbon ever (quite possibly). molasses, oak, and cherry.

T: Follows the nose. Very enjoyable.

F: Average on stout body. Right-sized carbonation.

O: A new favorite. How did I miss this the last ten years!?

 

Dark black body. Rich, decadent chocolate fudge, slightest hint of dark fruit, presumably from the cherry, mild sweet swirl-type ice cream flavors. Really nicely done, full bodied, nice smooth creamy carbonation.

This was good, nice bourbon flavors but then the cherry kicks in and kind of throws things off. Also has a very slight note of oxidation in the aroma. Give me Rusty Nail any day.