Very Angry Beast
Clown Shoes

22oz bottle poured into a snifter. Huge thanks to BA ClownShoesDreams for sending me this bottle.

Appearance: Careful pour yields a tight, frothy tan head with great retention. Pours black and leaves sweeping lacing.

Smell: Piercing cocoa and coffee aroma--very very nice. Sweet but complex, like the flavor of a good coffee liqueur. Some boozy alcohol aroma cutting through cake just out of the oven and various coffee and almond aromas. Definitely some oak and bourbon. Changes with time, but like the best big stouts, every time you bring the glass to your nose you get something you want.

Taste: Follows the nose, with a great mouthfeel to back it up. Sweet and creamy up front with vanilla oak, hot estery alcohol and cake, drying out with some roasted malt and a long oaky and malty aftertaste. Hard to put the glass down.

This is a fantastic beer. I've hated Blaecorn Unidragon in all its forms (e.g. Porcine)--tastes like ashtray to me... but apparently when you add some Angry Beast and bourbon barrel age it it becomes sublime. The smoke really works here... usually the "ashtray" impression I get is just too much smoke/roasted malt, but here the softer, cake-like and American oak flavors provide the perfect balance (and the smoke/heavy roasted malt keeps the sweet, dessert notes from going too far as well).

Just excellent, I'm literally saying shit outloud like "Mmmm!" and "Damn!" after every sip, and I haven't drank enough to be drunk yet. This beer is absurdly good. Reminds me of a souped up version of the better bottles of Firestone Walker Parabola I've had.

Mouthfeel: Better than the usual Clown Shoes BA beer: thick and creamy, with perfect (read: high) dryness cutting through the thickness. Moderate carbonation. I'm shocked that for once the feel is even better than the flavor (and the flavor is world class).

Overall: When you buy a bourbon barrel aged stout (and you know what you're doing), you're hoping to get something like this. Big complexity, every note working together, lots of oak, lots of the great nuances that make 2oz of good bourbon worth sipping on for an hour, intoxicating aroma--just great. For some reason it reminds me of being in the Bahamas and having really good rum cake; the alcohol heat is there, but it's not just punching you in the face, it's taking the sweet pastry flavors and elevating them, exposing everything they have to offer and delivering it to you.

World class beer. Compares favorably with the big shots, ie Parabola, BCBS, the better Eclipse variants, etc.

Poured a black body with minimal head and no lace. Boozy aroma with hints of dark fruit. Smooth, not too boozy, has minor bitter sweetness underneath a woody, boozy, medicinal taste that is strong and makes for a slow sipper.

 

 

 

**
04/03/2020

LOOK: Dark black color, big frothy off white head. good retention.
AROMA: roasted barley, hint of smoke/wood,
TASTE: Chocolate/fudge up front, wood and coffee follow up; light hint of alcohol burn late, but not really discernible as bourbon without reading the label.
FEEL: Pretty smooth, with just a touch of astringency in finish.

Another good "beast" beer from Clown Shoes. "Flight" is still my favorite.

**
**

 

9/1/19 bottle @ home

 

 

Served in a snifter glass from the bottle.

Appearance: Semi thick black body with medium bubbles creating a tan head rising roughly half a finger's length off the body. Settles quickly after one sip but nice definition to the body.

Smell: Whiskey aroma which is more potent than your usual barrel stuff roaming around the country, strong but dissipating very quickly.

Taste: Sweet coffee with a shot of bourbon and brown sugar. Strong alcohol flavor with a butterscotch sweetness.

Mouth: Medium carbonation with a sticky body, full and generously sweet.

Overall: It is definitely nothing new, but definitely good beer. No real need for improvement, throw it in the middle of your beer tasting; the warm up to your next beer. Salud!

 

Pours pitch black with ample mocha head (tastes like choc milk). Massive bourbon and chocolate aroma. Flavor is chocolate, bourbon barrrl, some sweet vanilla, light coffee finish. Slightly tangy. Carbonation lends to a creamy mouthfeel. Overall a great BBA Imperial Stout, if u see it on the shelf buy it!

8/15/19
Bomber
4.25 rating

 

 

 

I haven't tanked a Clown Shoes Beer that I regretted.
Every one of 'em is a wonderful beer experience.
So far every one I've guzzled has been high alcohol content but wears that percentage with grace amd charm.
Very Angry Beast-- My reference standard is the Blaecorn Unidragon. This example is a wonderful flavor and stance on the palate --- a beer to be savored rather than guzzled. My detraction is purely that the head was short lived-- could be my glass. I'm getting to be an old fart and my taster isn't what it used to be-- I can't detect the bourbon barrel aging and somehow I think the Blaecorn has a more established flavor and profile-- but I cant put away two bombers in one sitting without deleterious effects so memory serves.
Whatever-- it's a wonderful beer if you like powerful , up-front and center stage behind the mic beers. If it was two percent ABV I could put away a quarter keg in a sitting...