Fourth Dementia - Bourbon Barrel-Aged
Kuhnhenn Brewing Company

 

2018 vintage; consumed on 5/22/2023

Pours a jet-mahogany body topped with two fingers of fluffy, khaki-hued foam; good head retention leaves a spotty, paper-thin cap, large, creamy collar, and a modest array of chunky, webby lacing strewn around the walls of the glass.

Aromas open to fresh prune laden with prickly oak as accents of fig wash through an encroaching bourbon undercurrent sporting progressive dark cocoa and edgy vanillins detailing.

Taste brings saucy prune and stewed dates upfront, with notes of dusty cocoa and charry oak encroaching on Werthers Originals past the mid-palate into smoked toffee meeting distant undertones of burnt vanilla on the back end of the profile.

Mouthfeel offers a medium-light body and a robust fluff of moderate carbonation, dispersing an airy char to a steadily cleaning roast washing over the mid-palate, a quiet warmth trailing into a bright twang integrating effortlessly toward the finish.

A daring fusion of barrel and brightness in a profile saturated with near-syrupy dark fruit reductions and a tempering, deft level of cocoa char; an exceedingly bold, almost authoritative expression of the style executed with adept clarity.

 

1910
Name: 4th Dementia
Brewery: Kuhnhenn Brewing
Location: Warren MI
Style: Old Ale
ABV: 13.5%
Date: 2022
Next on the review desk is Fourth Dementia from Kuhnhenn Brewing. I am going to start to pull some big ones from the cellar. This beer has been on my want list for over eight years. Many beers on my want list, like Fox Farms, require travel. I am excited to get to this review. Using a tulip, I served this beer at around 50 degrees. The pour created an airy, fingered light brown head with no retention. It came and went faster than life. No lacing was left on the glass. The high alcohol content could cause the head to wane. I was charting the color somewhere around SRM 32, dark rusty brown. The appearance is about average for this style.
Nosing the glass, I smell whiskey, oak, caramel, toffee, chocolate, soy sauce, mild coffee, bread, raisins, smokiness, Maillard, vanilla, char, and tobacco.
The first sip is like a perfectly executed tango on my palate with flavor. I taste whiskey, oak, caramel, toffee, chocolate, soy sauce, mild coffee, bready, raisins, figs, vanilla, Maillard, tobacco, char, dark roasted malts, burnt sugar, and an aged wine note.
The mouthfeel is slightly warm and coating, finishing smooth and long.
This beer is smacking. The wait was worth it; everything about this beer is terrific. The barrel age is near perfect. The warmer the beer gets, the more flavors develop, creating this symphony in your mouth. Stellar beer; I wish I had several more to sip on.

 

2022 vintage

I knew downloading Tavour would be a good idea, and I am very grateful that it allows me to access this long time want of mine. I’ve only had one other Kuhnhenn beer before, the best in style Raspberry Eisbock that I enjoyed very much. This one is yet another highly regarded style topper. Let’s dig in

Pours an opaque dark brown with a finger of creamy tan head that slowly fades to a ring and leaves minimal lacing

Wow, this is huge in the nose. Super malty and bourbon forward. I’m picking up on aromas of brown bread, toasted walnut, sweet bourbon, dates, smooth oak, sticky caramel, raisin, brown sugar, smoky tobacco, light aged hops, and sweet red wine

It doesn’t reach the same levels of intensity in taste, but it is still very good. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting brown sugar, dark bread, raisin, black cherry, sweet bourbon, caramel, smooth oak, light vanilla, and old leather. The swallow brings notes of brown bread, molasses, toasted walnut, brown sugar, sweet bourbon, burnt caramel, toasted oak, port wine, smoky tobacco, and light sherry

A medium full body pairs with gentle carbonation, resulting in a smooth beer. Finishes off dry with just a touch of booze, feeling well before 13.5%

This is absolutely awesome! I’m so happy I finally got the chance to try it, and even happier I have 3 more bottles of this to drink

#160, excellent!

 

 

Pours dark brown with a tan head. Tobacco, bourbon barrel that is actually dark wood forward by a tiny bit, toffee, prune, old ale yeast nose. Taste hits barrel and barley first with tobacco, leather, prune, then toffee, plum skin, black licorice and then a finishing oxidized yeast finish. Feel is boozy yet cooler, medium bodied and artful yeast with great barrel character. Let this warm up and it will reward you!

12oz bottle from Tavour. Mahogany pour, ring of head. Aroma is raisins, plums, sweet, woody. Taste is pit fruit, light tannic notes, tobacco, prunes, woody, barrel, sweetness. Slick body, ABV seeps in slowly. Luscious, sumptuous.

 

04/04/23 bottle @ home

 

 

 

 

 

This is consistently tasty. That said, I think some additional time will take this to another level.

 

 

 

2021 version, drank 4/26/22

Pours a deep, dark brown. Minimal head, dissipates quickly. Strong aroma of chocolate, leather, and tobacco.

A bit thin, borderline syrupy feel. Tastes of dark chocolate, tobacco, caramel, toffee. Intense flavor, but hides the alcohol really well. Strong, but not in any way boozy. Enjoyable sipper

Purchased at the brewery outside of Detroit, MI. 12 oz @ 13.5%. Bought this beer on a Monday at the brewery transported it home stuffed in my steel-toed boot in my luggage on a flight back to DC. Poured into a small-stemmed tulip. I drank this beer on the following Friday evening at home to celebrate my first day in the new office. Very happy I did not wait.

This is the first barrel-aged old ale that I’ve had. A barrel-aged beer that the brewer “did right.” But I still may have taken this beer out of the barrels earlier. The high ABV and the sweetness might make you think you are drinking a barleywine.

Complex is an understatement. 4.5

A – Pours a hazy deep reddish brown but opaque in the glass with a thin tan head with reddish highlights. Constant thin head. Good carbonation. Viscosity on the glass. Some lacing. 4.5

S – A rich but oxidized aroma of vanilla and caramel, with some slight metallic. 4.25

T – Caramel, brown sugar, then the vanilla with finally the barrel spirits in the background. Not as much barrel in the taste as the aroma might lead you to believe. The oxidized or metallic notes are very sedate. Vinous qualities as wells, some raisins soaked in bourbon. No hoppiness that I can discern. 4.75

MF – Medium heavy body with a sweetish finish. Slick and a bit coating. Let this beer linger on the palate and the oxidation rises up just a little. 4.5

 

 

poured from a 12oz bottle into a snifter. pours a dark chestnut with very little foam. wonderful aromas of bourbon, charred oak, toffee, vanilla, even a hint of coconut. taste follows with a slight fruitiness on the finish. medium-full mouthfeel; nice, lower level of carbonation. to me, this is right in that wheelhouse of Längst and Ryeway - two beers i absolutely love. this beer might be a tad more drinkable (possibly even more approachable) as i don’t find it to be the slow sippers that Längst and Ryeway are. really good stuff!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pretty unique. Almost like an imperial stout plus barleywine blend with a dry finish. Caramel up front, then some char. Hoping to try some more of their beers.