Quaff Bros Chicago Style Breakfast Stout
Rivertown Brewery & Barrel House

 

22 ounce bottle
Served in a snifter

This beer pours black and is topped with less than an inch of tan head that leaves very little lacing.

It starts out with a caramel and vanilla aroma. After it warms a bit I get some chocolate, hints of coffee, and even some sweetness from the maple.

The taste is chocolate, caramel, with hints of coffee. I get a little maple sweetness in the finish.

Medium bodied with a smooth mouthfeel

This is a very good beer. It probably would have been even better fresh, but I'm not complaining. I didn't even check the abv until after I reviewed it. I would never have guessed it was over 14%. Dangerous stuff.

Look: Deep brown that doesn't make it to black.
Smell: Coffee as the forerunner and lesser notes of bourbon with molasses.
Taste: Coffee and fruit. The fruit can be described by strawberries.
Feeling: A kick of alcohol that isn't over bearing that still makes it interesting.
Overall: Good but not great, I don't love coffee and the feeling does add to it.

 

22 ounce bottle, no dating that I could find on it but I believe it's about a year old. Served in a DFH snifter, the beer pours dark brown/black with not quite an inch tan head. Head retention and lacing are both decent enough. Aroma is nice and mostly sweet, the brew smells like bourbon, maple, vanilla, molasses, nuts, and some dark berry/strawberry. Taste is similar to the aroma, but with the addition of some roasted malt, coffee, dark breadiness and oak. It's sweet tasting, but not overpowering at all. Mouthfeel/body is medium/full, it's slick and smooth with a moderate amount of carbonation. Booze is well hidden in this, sure doesn't seem like it's 14.7% ABV. I thought this was a pretty good imperial stout, really enjoyed it! Definitely recommend this one to any stout fans. $12.99 a bomber.

 

Draft. Reminds me a lot of bourbon county coffee. Not completely opaque but the nose is rich with coffee and dessert carmalized brown sugar with almost a coconut/ banana cream pie. Mouthfeel is a little week for a stout this big. Overall fantastic.

 

 

22 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled in 9/2016. Pours opaque dark brown/black color with a 1 finger dense khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Light spotty lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, nutty coffee, molasses, maple syrup, brown sugar, caramel, toffee, strawberries, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, coconut, dark bread, light smoke/char/raisin, and roast/oak/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malt, coffee, maple syrup, strawberries, and bourbon barrel notes; with great strength. Some increasing booziness in the aromas as it warms. Flavors of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, nutty coffee, molasses, maple syrup, brown sugar, caramel, toffee, strawberries, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, coconut, dark bread, light smoke/char/raisin, and roast/oak/toasted earthiness. Light-moderate roast/char bitterness and bourbon/oak spiciness on the finish; with lingering notes of dark chocolate, cocoa, nutty coffee, molasses, maple syrup, brown sugar, caramel, toffee, strawberries, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, coconut, dark bread, smoke, char, and roast/oak/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malt, coffee, maple syrup, strawberries, and bourbon barrel flavors; with a great roasted bitter/sweet and spicy bourbon/oak balance; with zero cloying flavors after the finish. Light dryness from roast bitterness and bourbon/oak spiciness, increasing through the glass. Light carbonation and medium-full body; with a smooth, creamy/bready, fairly silky, and lightly tannic/chalky balanced mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is fairly well hidden, a light-moderate warmth lingers after the finish. Mildy boozy and not overwhelming. Overall this is an awesome flavored BBA imperial stout. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malt, coffee, maple syrup, strawberries, and bourbon barrel flavors; very smooth and easy to sip on for the huge ABV. Not too big on the strawberries, but they have nice presence. Really big on the barrel, but not overdone for my preferences. Provides nice dryness, making this really not all that sweet. Great well rounded imperial stout complexity. A very enjoyable offering.

 

 

 

Dark brown body with a small collar that fades to nil. Aromas of srawberry, syrup, strawberry maple syrup! Bourbon character is there as well. Rich, sweet. Strawberry character dominates. Low carbonation, medium-thick body. Tasty in small doses.