Viola Sofia (Barrel Aged)
Grassroots Brewing

 

This one pours a dark black color, with a small white head, and a bit of lacing.

This smells like milk chocolate, roast, dark chocolate, vanilla, raisin, plum, nuttiness, and espresso.

There’s not a lot of barrel here – maybe a touch of oaky bitterness, but no real bourbon notes that I can discern. The base Viola Sofia stout seems rounder and softer than the un-barreled version that came out a while ago, and I guess that’s probably what the barrel added here. There’s some soft berry and vanilla creaminess, with lots of both milk and dark chocolate, a healthy roasty note, and dark espresso-like flavors.

This is medium bodied, and very creamy and silky, with not a ton of booziness.

If you’re looking for big bourbon barrel character, this isn’t gonna be the beer you want to reach for. If you want a really well-rounded tasty imperial stout, then this actually might be the beer you want to reach for.

 

 

 

 

Best by Jan 2013, thanks to rudzud.

Very little bubble head, little thick Dark fudgey black color. 4

Nose super fudge dark choc, super rich expensive cocoa, little barrel notes, faint booze, layered tiramisu like aroma, choc cake like, nice bourbon and barrel in general, so much fudge and cocoa. 4.5

Taste starts watery chocolate, little creamy mild choc notes, mild fudgey, bitter roast, and support bitter dark choc, thin and like powdered choc water. Little barrel notes, faint bourbon, vanilla, caramel, etc. Little bitter earthy bitter hop note. Finish is sticky sweet, caramel, dark cocoa, choc fudge, chewy, quite bitter lingering. 4

Mouth is med bod, bit thin but still fudgey, and no carb unfortunately. 3.75

Overall mixed, started great, has some great cocoa and fudge, mild barrel, pretty enjoyable though despite the lack of carbonation and bottle like. 4

This was picked up in a simpler time...back when one could stroll up to Hill Farmstead and spend two hours there talking with Shaun and Phil and not seeing another customer. Ah...the good ol days. Shared with JLindros.

A - Poured into a Kate the Great tulip a super dark brown nearly black hue with next to no head that fades to leave a thin halo and nice legs. 4 (x .05 = .2)

S - Aromas of fudge fudge fudge galore, delicious chocolate. This is a precursor to Damon and birth of tragedy and Shaun clearly knew he had a winning base beer. Super aromatic, great bourbon and barrel, light coffee. This is super aromatic. 4.5 (x .02 = .9)

T - Taste is loads of roast still, little bitter acrid roast, light chocolate. Bourbon is there, faint, rather watery chocolate. A bit of a let down to as good as the nose is. Just a bit thin on the taste, while good it's a shadow of the nose. 4.25 (x .45 = 1.913)

M - Mouthfeel is very thin and watery, basically flat. Quite the shame, alcohol is hidden well though. 3.75 (x .1 = .375)

O - Overall this beer had big sways of good and bad. Awesome nose but the lack of carbonation hurt this. The things that get lost in a cellar... 4 (x .2 = .8)

Total Rating Score: 4.19
Serving Type: Bottle

11.2oz bottle poured into a Hill Farmstead oversized wine glass.

A~ completely black, small brown head and the tiniest bit of lacing.

S~ strong boozy bourbon up front. followed by a little coffee, bitter dark chocolate and a ton of dark malts.

T~ a burnt coffee, dark chocolate master piece! the cocoa nibs really shine here. then the bourbon comes on with nice vanilla and caramel. surprisingly no boozyness at all! which might be because of the almost 2 years of age.

M~ nicely carbonated, not over done. smooth and extremely drinkable at almost 11%.

O~ this is seriously incredible even way past its best before date of Jan. 2013. the burnt coffee/cocoa nibs really throw this over the top. i'm always surprised with how well Jack Daniels barrels age a stout. it gives this unique sweetness thats really hard to put a finger on which also comes out on JD BA Mexican Cake minus the key ingredients of course but the JD barrels make these 2 brews very similar in a fantastic way.

 

 

 

 

 

Black in color with a solid tan head. Really nice whiskey and vanilla nose right away. Great roasted malt and chocolate along with some toffee and molasses sweetness. The flavor is just more of the same. Really smooth and rich on the tongue, too. Great chocolate and vanilla flavor, moderate whiskey and controlled booze. Awesome stuff.

 

 

 

Soft tan bubbles resides around the edges of this Hair of the dog snifter. Scotch, oak, and chocolate are penetrating those olfactory senses. Taste? Very nice. Absolutely well balanced barrel aged RIS. Some dark chocolate notes, bourbon, cocoa, and oak. Medium viscosity, and really, quite nice. Have not been disappointed with a single beer Shawn Hill has been involved in. this is a very good barrel aged RIS, and it looks like Shawn is starting to explore this style a bit more as indicated by recent releases, which is very exciting. Considering it's aged in JD barrels, which is often not particularly useful in crafting a tasty -bal aged beer, this is definitely the exception. Recommended.

12 oz bottle. Thanks Ashley!

Pours a near black with a thin, fleeting tan head. Potent boozy aroma of bourbon, cocoa, roast and light oak. Flavor begins initially heavy on the bourbon and dark fruit before subtly transitioning mid palate to a cocoa and chocolate malt with light roast. Any traces of the barrel nearly disappear by the finish. Medium light body, soft carbonation, a little thin for the style. A very unique, drinkable barrel forward stout.