Salted Caramel Stout - Bourbon Barrel-Aged
Breakside Brewery - NE Dekum

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From:
Breakside Brewery - NE Dekum
 
Oregon, United States
Style:
American Imperial Stout
Ranked #1,703
ABV:
10.5%
Score:
88
Ranked #12,925
Avg:
3.96 | pDev: 7.58%
Reviews:
17
Ratings:
56
Status:
Active
Rated:
Apr 01, 2022
Added:
Dec 12, 2015
Wants:
  7
Gots:
  14
Our winter seasonal stout aged for 12 months in Heaven Hill bourbon barrels. Big notes of vanilla, caramel, and chocolate mix on the nose are followed by rich bourbon flavors on the mid-palate, a luscious mouthfeel, and a hint of salt on the finish. All rounded out by soft oak tannins and a pleasant wood character.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by dvmin98:
 
Rated: 3.7 by DVMin98 from North Carolina

Jul 02, 2018
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.91 by Tcsox from Massachusetts

Apr 01, 2022
 
Rated: 3.5 by TallGuyCM from California

Jun 30, 2020
Photo of Jeffo
Reviewed by Jeffo from Netherlands

3.05/5  rDev -23%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
Doopie brought this one out for beer night a while back. Cheers!

From a bomber into a snifter
Collaboration with Salt + Straw Ice Cream
Drunk right after the base beer

APPEARANCE: A clear brown pour yields a three finger, looser, foamy, light tan head with okay retention. Dark brown body with medium levels of carbonation. Head fades to a full cap and clings to the sides of the glass. Splotchy wisp remains until the end leaving some lacing down the glass. Sub-par start but decent finish, much like the base beer.

SMELL: Some definite whisky and wood on the nose. Spirit heavy. Notes of caramel, milk chocolate and roasted malts too, but plenty of spirits here too.

TASTE: Spirit, whisky and oak up front. Spirit heavy for sure. Lots of booze at the swallow with whisky, oak, some notes of milk chocolate, vanilla, caramel, bitter pure chocolate and alcohol lingering on the palate.

PALATE: Medium body and medium carbonation. Creamy enough on the palate, goes down fine with a bit of a bite at the swallow and finishes slightly dry on the palate. A good amount of heat lingers.

OVERALL: This is okay. The base stout is somewhat overpowered by the barrel, making this a spirit heavy incarnation of the beer and quite a bit boozier than it needs to be. Decent enough but not an improvement on the original, and not really something worth jumping hoops for. Thanks again, doopie. Beer themes like this are always what gets me up in the morning.
Jun 18, 2019
 
Rated: 4 by mattreitz49 from Florida

Dec 23, 2018
 
Rated: 4.02 by bigpoppa67 from Wisconsin

Dec 02, 2018
 
Rated: 3.99 by KMcGrath from Massachusetts

Nov 27, 2018
 
Rated: 3.73 by smi69 from New York

Nov 24, 2018
Photo of Sprowt20
Reviewed by Sprowt20 from New Jersey

3.71/5  rDev -6.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Rich, salty, but not thick. Less mouth coating than I expected, but not necessarily a bad thing. Not terribly boozy, either, given that it's a barrel-aged, high-ABV stout.
Nov 18, 2018
 
Rated: 4.35 by jduprey007 from Michigan

Oct 19, 2018
 
Rated: 4.08 by JakerLou from New Hampshire

Oct 19, 2018
Photo of brenn79
Reviewed by brenn79 from Idaho

3.83/5  rDev -3.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
22 oz bottle- Pours black with a mocha colored head. Aroma is caramel, bourbon, chocolate, malt balls. The taste is similar, caramel, bourbon, caramel malt, toffee, chocolate milk duds. Pretty good, nothing spectacular here though.
Oct 18, 2018
Photo of DBosco
Reviewed by DBosco from Massachusetts

4.31/5  rDev +8.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Dark coffee brown with a little light around the edges, a few fingers of head that settle down to a film after a few minutes. Smell is rich with bourbon and chocolate. Taste is sweet with a bit of salt, the vanilla bourbon is warming. Feel is medium body with some fizzy carbonation. Overall, this has good character of the bourbon barrel, rich taste and aroma, not overly thick and sweet. For me the salt is too prominent - cut that in half I say, but that is a proposed improvement; it is not a real detriment as is.
Oct 16, 2018
Photo of SawDog505
Reviewed by SawDog505 from New Hampshire

4.11/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Pours a very dark near pitch black with a massive 3 plus finger head that leaves a ton of webby lace at near room temperature. 4.5[IMG] Smell is boozy, dark fruit, molasses, pecan, dark chocolate, coffee grounds, tobacco, and vanilla bean. 4

Taste follows big shot of cognac, figs, brown sugar, molasses, dark chocolate, expresso, tobacco, and vanilla. 4.25

Mouthfeel is a little thinner than I prefer maybe medium, gentle carbonation, a tad dry for sure, and drinks much bigger than its 10.1% ABV. 3.75

Overall a very complex stout that would drink nicer for me if it was more chewy, but it is still an excellent imperial stout. 4
Oct 14, 2018
 
Rated: 3.91 by Zonian1 from Ohio

Oct 06, 2018
 
Rated: 3.85 by BirdsandHops from Oregon

Aug 13, 2018
Photo of GreesyFizeek
Reviewed by GreesyFizeek from New York

3.65/5  rDev -7.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
This one pours a very dark black color, with a small white head, and no lacing.

This smells pretty boozy, with a burn, with some sweet caramel, dark chocolate, and roast.

The barrel comes off mainly as just boozy burn here, without that warm toasted oak and well integrated bourbon I search for. There's a lot of nice chocolate and caramel, but I'm assuming the base beer is superior here.

This is medium bodied, not too thick or thin, with a lingering booziness that requires slow sipping.

I expected a lot more out of this one. It wasn't unenjoyable, but it was still disappointing.
Aug 11, 2018
 
Rated: 3.81 by Beerbom from California

Jul 10, 2018
 
Rated: 4.05 by smb71481 from Vermont

Jun 24, 2018
 
Rated: 4.36 by Negrelly from Brazil

Jun 14, 2018
Salted Caramel Stout - Bourbon Barrel-Aged from Breakside Brewery - NE Dekum
Beer rating: 88 out of 100 with 56 ratings