Brandy Barrel Imperial Stout
Lagunitas Brewing Company

Ruddy, muddled brown and lesser black, tan head, thin, doesn't look like a sexy beer. Warming sweet brandy, soft wood touches, boozy.

Brings out a lot of sweetness, alcohol is warming, stout like body is thinned out, less russian dark fruit bitterness exchanged for the sweet brandy warmness of it. Pretty enjoyable sipper.

 

 

 

 

 

Lagunitas lists the ABV as 10+%.

Dark brown color with deep ruby hues. Thin deep tan head with little retention.

Thick, rich, lazy alcohol notes on the nose. Cherry pipe tobacco and cherry cola, tomato leaf, soy sauce, deep roasted malt. In some ways, it feels like PX Sherry.

The pipe tobacco lingers on the palate, bitter-sweet chocolate, mocha, soy, fig against a light hop background.

Very heavy mouthfeel. Really rich, thick texture that lays across the finish of the beer.

On tap at Lionheart Blues Cafe in Albany, NY.

Pours a dark brown, with a one inch head and no lacing.

Smells include pure booze and brandy, no real stout aromas.

This is one boozy mother of a beer. The barrel takes over the stout, only a little bit of roasty flavor is noticeable. A bit of tobacco and chocolate maybe, but so much brandy flavor and medicinal alcohol that it's a chore to drink. So disappointing.

Medium bodied, a little thin for the style. Creamy mouthfeel.

This one was a huge miss for me, had high expectations for it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This pours a dark cola color with creamy coffee-tinged foam. There’s a rambunctiously big boozy aroma, more alcohol than coffee/roast which says to me the barrel dominates. The flavor has a lot of the booze on it as well with some sweet stout notes. There’s a slight tartness/souring to it, as if the brandy barrel had some other bugs in it? Not what I expected but still an enjoyable, interesting sipper. And the ABV will creep up on you so be careful.