Loonidragon
Clown Shoes

 

 

22oz bottle. Bottling date is stamped as '12/27/16'.
Black colored body, with some ruby back lit highlights. One finger of tan head, settles back to a dense, small bubble cap. Leaves behind sheet lacing.
Aroma is dark roasted malts and rum barrel.
Taste is dark roasted malts and rum barrel. Chocolate mixed with sweet, fruity flavor of rum. Caramel and toffee. The after taste continues with the dark malts and rum.
Full mouth feel, with mouth coating texture. Very good carbonation.
Overall this beer is toward the dry side, but the mix of chocolate/caramel/rum is very well balanced. Higher ABV% is well hidden, but there is a general warming as the beer goes into the stomach.

 

 

 

 

Beautiful looking stout. Dark black with a dense mocha colored head and heavy lacing left down the glass. Aroma of heavily roasted malt, vanilla, rum, brown sugar, alcohol, and coffee. Boozy flavor of alcohol and rum. Does not meld together as nicely as Clown Shoes other BA stouts. Notes of charred malt, vanilla, with hints of coffee and cinnamon. Hot finish. Big, full body and softly carbonated.

 

Loonidragon is a barrel-aged Blaecorn Unidragon variant exclusive to Minnesota; the 2017 vintage has been aged in rum barrels. This results in a nice, complex balancing act as the dark-roasted bitterness and dry finish of the Unidragon is filtered through the vanilla, cane sugars, and sweetness of the rum. The rum and barrel character is evident but not overpowering, yielding a pretty smooth experience that's flavorful but less in-your-face than many of Clown Shoes' other 12-14% abv boozefests. I personally enjoy the typical boozy heat and extravagance of their barrel-aged beers, so this isn't elevated to being one of my favorites, but it's still definitely worth trying to get your hands on.

22oz bottle from Justdoit1234 (thanks for hooking me up with another Loonidragon variant). Bottled 12/27/16. Served in a Clown Shoes snifter.

Pours oil black with a finger and a half khaki head. The bubbles shrink to some surface haze and a thin, broken rail, leaving only a few specks of lace.

Aromas of roasty chocolate malt, sugary sweet rum, caramel, wet wood, slight peat and some faint coffee.

Tastes of dark chocolate fudge, cooked brown sugar, wet charred oak, rum, espresso, faint pine, burnt caramel, a hint of peat, raisin bread and a good bit of alcohol. The rum really tames the strong bitter roast of the base.

Creamy, medium full, coating feel with softly fizzy carbonation. The finish is like oaky, dark chocolate rum balls.

Clown Shoes continues their parade of outstanding barrel aged stouts. The rum in Loonidragon 2017 has softer presence than the bourbon or scotch from previous iterations. That sweet sugar from the rum barrels plays well on the bitter, roasty, hefty Unidragon base. Well done indeed.