Barrel Aged Worthy Adversary (Port/Madeira)
Fulton Brewing Company

2018 can. Poured from a 12 oz can into a Dogfish Head tulip

L: Inky pour... nearly black. Opaque with thin/barely there mocha head. Falls fast... still gives a ring of lacing.

S: Roast, chocolate, barrel, vanilla, and dark fruit. Lots going on here.

T.F: Semi-sweet up front. Grapes and red wine... vanilla, cocoa, plum, and oak. Lighter roast... burned sugars. Vinous... toffee, cherry, and more red wine. Medium to heavy bodied... smooth. A little more carbonation than expected. Warming.... port wine finish.

O: An outstanding double barrel-aged brew. The underlying stout really picked up the barrel character. Great stuff!

 

 

 

 

12oz can. Canned on date of '2018-03-28'.
Black colored body, with a thin back lit edge of mahogany brown. Just a skim of brown colored head, which results in an active bubbly fed surface and ring. Leaves behind a few scattered spots of lacing.
Aroma has the heavy sweetness of port wine, with a base of dark roasted malts. There is a whiff of vanilla.
Taste is dark roasted malts, with an overlay of rich port wine. Swirls of chocolate, vanilla, and dark fruit. There is something akin to anise or black licorice.
Thick mouth feel, mouth coating texture. Okay carbonation.
This is a rich stout made more complex with the barrel aging. Very little bitterness, and the higher ABV% is hidden for the most part.

 

 

Love this mixed barrel aged four pack idea. Worth Advesery from Port/Madeira barrels is a nice little twist on the RIS, maybe even it's natural evolution. This is more like an RIS where the dark fruit notes are tripled. No head whatsoever, the nose gives lots of chocolate, toffee, cherry, and grape. Palette follows suit with plenty of dark fruit and port characteristics buttressing roasty malt and chocolate flavor. I'm drinking it at this moment, and as it's warming the flavors begin to have even more depth and intermingle perfectly. Well crafted beer here.

Wow, just wow!

First, I wish I had tried the base beer, so I could sort out a bit the influence of the barrel aging. My guess is that the non-barrel aged version of this beer is a terrific RIS all by itself, but of course I don't quite know.

Taken together, the base beer plus the aging, makes for a beer which is totally dark with no head at all (poured from the 12 ounce can, that is). The nose is dark fruits and port wine. I'm not picking up the cocoa/chocolate notes that some other folks have reported. The taste is just bursting with a mix of flavors ... the dark fruits and port, a bit of bitterness, some roasted malts, and then some underlying dark chocolate.

I loved this beer, and would be happy to see it sold separately. I haven't yet tried the cognac version, the last of the 4 pack that's left. I'm looking forward to that.

2018 - Port/Madeira Barrel Aged - From Mixed Barrel Aged 4-pack
12 oz can poured into a snifter.

Appearance
Jet black. No light penetration. No head.

Nose
Port, red wine, black licorice, toffee, caramel, anise, tar, and fudge.

Taste
Port, red wine, and raspberry jam. Black licorice and star anise. Toffee, caramel, oily fudge, and charcoal, Prune and raisin.

Mouthfeel
Medium-plus bodied, sweet, oily, smooth, and sticky.

Overall
Very, very sweet. Almost cloyingly so.

 

Third of four from the mixed pack. Oh my this is wonderful, far better than the cognac version. The robust, bitter, deeply roasted cocoa balances nearly perfectly with the potent port barrel finish. I hope find solo packs of one some day.

Fulton Barrel Aged Worthy Adversary Russian Imperial Stout (port, madeira barrels), 10% ABV. Pours black with a slight brown head. Nose is fruit and chocolate, taste follows - like bitter chocolate covered cherries, slight sweetness, slight bitterness. Excellent mouthfeel, overall outstanding. This was one of four Fulton BA beers in a small variety pack. I like that concept, and I like this beer. Hope the other three are this good.

 

Canned 3/28/18, consumed today

Look- dark brown bordering on black with a tan head that recedes to a thin ring around the edge of the glass. no lacing.

Smell- boozy prunes and dark cherries (I'm guessing this is from the port/madeira barrels), dark chocolate and slightly burnt roasty note

Taste- follows the nose somewhat with the chocolate and burnt roasty notes, but the barrel presents itself here as a rich boozy full on port taste the sort of envelopes the roasty notes, but amplifies them rather than overshadowing them. It's sort of like drinking a booze-soaked dark chocolate covered cherry that's barely sweet

Feel- slick feeling, medium thick body with low carbonation that coats the mouth; long finish that leaves the mouth slightly numbed from booze

Overall- really enjoyable BA Imperial Stout where the port/madeira flavors from the barrel serve to enhance the base flavors of the malt

Thanks to Fulton for putting out a four-pack of different barrel aged beers in 12 oz. cans – it’s a first around here & a great idea. This is the second of the four to be introduced to my liver.

The pour is black, & mostly dead. The nose is sweet, and much different from the base beer, as the port/madeira is bringing strong fruit to the nose. Again, the barrel and/or aging has eliminated the coffee from the nose sense.

Worthy Adversary – Port/Madeira Barrel Aged is rife with port – I’ve had port that tasted less like port than this. Rich, thick berries, mostly black cherry & blackberries, paste the palate, & are more reminiscent of a port smoothie than a brewski. The sweetness of the port leans into the malt sweetness, along with a smattering of dark chocolate, finishing with a single finger of alcohol. Smoooooooooth.

Superior to both the cognac version & the base beer, Fulton has coaxed a sublime beer out of the barrels. I hope this makes a solo reappearance.

 

Poured into a Darkstar November glass. Not much head until the pour got aggressive, at which point the foam showed up. Nose is full of port and chocolate. Palate follows suit, with some oak and dark fruit as well. Mouthfeel is a bit thin. Not a particularly complex beer, but pleasant nonetheless, and decent at the price point. Looking forward to having it again.

This beer pours a dark black with minimal head. The aroma is almost overwhelming with port aromas - just thickly vinous, with an udnercurrent of chocolate. The flavor follows a similar sweet, rich, vinous quality, with cocoa powder, and just more rich, juice exuding overripe berries. Not a lot of nutty or oxidized madeira notes. The mouthfeel is fairly null with moderate carbonation. Overall I was really hoping for more madeira influce, as this is something I love, and while the beer is not bad, it is a little unbalanced and over the top. Contrary to my expectations, the Cognac barrel version was better.