Chocolate Cherry Morningwood
Odd Side Ales

A - Pours pitch black with a thin creamy tan head. The head fades fast with no real lacing.

S - Aroma is dark chocolate, tart cherries, coffee and bourbon.

T - The taste is sweet and tart cherries, dark chocolate, coffee, caramel, bourbon and some charred oak on the finish.

M - Medium body with medium carbonation. Crisp mouthfeel with a soft dry finish.

O - Another solid Morningwood variant. The cherry adds a nice tart sweetness to the base. Pretty easy drinking for 12.25%.

12 ounce can into tulip glass, canned on 2/20/2020. Pours dense opaque dark brown/black color with a small fairly dense tan head with good retention, that reduces to a thin spotty lace cap that lingers. Light spotty lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, dark roasted coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, bourbon, lightly tart/tangy cherry, fruit skin/pits, toasted oak, almond, biscuit, and dark/brown bread/crust; with lighter notes of licorice, molasses, raisin, prune, fig, date, smoke, char, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oaky earthiness. Mild booze in the aromas as it warms, but not overwhelming. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malt, chocolate, coffee, cherry, bourbon barrel, and light earthy hop/fruity yeast notes; with big strength. Taste of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, dark roasted coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, bourbon, lightly tart/tangy cherry, fruit skin/pits, toasted oak, almond, biscuit, and dark/brown bread/crust; with lighter notes of licorice, molasses, raisin, prune, fig, date, smoke, char, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oaky earthiness. Mild herbal, grassy, roast, charred bitterness; and fruit tang/tartness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, dark roasted coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, bourbon, lightly tart/tangy cherry, fruit skin/pits, toasted oak, almond, biscuit, dark/brown bread/crust, dark fruit, smoke, char, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oaky earthiness on the finish for a while. Fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malt, chocolate, coffee, cherry, bourbon barrel, and light earthy hop/fruity yeast flavors; with a fantastic roast/hop bitter/sweet and tart/tangy fruit balance; with no cloying/acrid/astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering bitter/tartness. Light-medium carbonation and full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/velvety/bready, and lightly slick/sticky/chalky/tangy/tannic mouthfeel that is fantastic. Mild increasing warmth of 12.25%, with minimal lingering barrel booze after the finish. Overall this is a fantastic flavored barrel aged imperial stout. All around fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malt, chocolate, coffee, cherry, bourbon barrel, and light earthy hop/fruity yeast flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the huge ABV, with the mildly bitter/tart/tangy/drying finish; fantastic soft/silky feel for the ABV. Perfectly balanced between super rich malts, chocolate, fruity/nutty coffee, and bourbon barrel presence/integration; with mild earthy hops and restrained fruity yeast. Solid cherry presence, without being overwhelming. A highly enjoyable offering, and outstanding style example as expected of the brewery.