Bourbon Barrel Stout
Neil House Brewery & Homebrew Supply

Bourbon barrel 5% stout, worth a try. Received as an extra. Unfortunately this beer is not good, it fails to be a bourbon barrel anything and the grains are over roasted generating this super ashy bitter.

Beer is black with a dark brown head of small bubbles, moderate retention.

Beer smells like a stout but the aroma is really weak.

Beer is thin and watery with a lot of roast. The finish is really ashy and unpleasant. Not a repeat.

Bomber from Ryan011235, poured into a Duvel tulip. A 5% stout, interesting choice for barrel-aging. Very dark brown with a couple of fingers of dark tank foam on top. This settles into to a thick skim with an oily sort of sheen. A couple of lace rings up top with assorted patches scattered about elsewhere.

The bourbon in the nose isn't particularly powerful, but a certain tanginess certainly is. Light notes of tangy dark malt and toasted cocoa. A heckuva lot more tangy than roasted malt flavor; in fact, as it warms, we seem to be moving closer to sour territory. Even the bourbon is drowned out (perhaps it's not that strong to begin with). Roast appears chiefly in the finish, and even then it competes with lingering tanginess. Ample carbonation fluffs up the lightish-medium body. Definitely in sour territory a third of the way in, and it's becoming pretty unpleasant; I ended up dumping a fair portion of this. I'm not one to throw the "i" word around, but something seemed amiss here.

Presentation: 1 pint 6 oz. bottle into a nonic.

A- Essentially black, completely opaque in appearance. Pours with ~2 fingers of creamy brown head, which fades extremely slowly to a nice cap. Excellent retention. A sheet of sticky lacing. A very nice looking stout...borderline "5" territory.

S- Earthy, smoky, coffee tinged roastiness. Slightly acrid. A vague oaky/woody aroma hangs over it all.

T- Earthy, grassy, roasted, smoky, coffee-infused bitterness. Very light oaky note on the finish.

M- Moderate carbonation, medium-to-slightly-light feel. I'd like a bit more body, but have to remind myself this is only a 5%'er.

O- Decent. This beer is great looking, and at least passable on all fronts.

Future outlook: Not a wowing beer, but good enough that I'd be willing to try other offerings from NH.

I am a little confused on the packaging of this beer. It does have a very nice label but the bottle itself is a swingtop without the rubber plug and associated metal. There is a cork in there with unrelated markings and a cork and cage that was overwound and just broke off after the first untwist. The C&C wasn't really performing a function at all since the cork was all the way into the next of the bottle, so I have no idea why it would be on there, seemingly hand done. I don't know if this is standard packaging but it seems way wrong to me and is cause for concern.

A - Pours a dark brown with a black center. Mocha coloured 1/2" head that left a few lacing rings.

S - Caramel malts, light bourbon, chocolate, charcoal smoke, vanilla, wood

T - I do pick up the bourbon in the taste however it is not prominent. The bourbon tasted more like it came out of chip-aging rather than full barrel aging. This low ABV stout just doesn't have enough depth of flavour to support it. More of a Brown to me. There is some oak and vanilla mixed in with chocolate but nothing memorable.

M - Medium, decently creamy

O - Along with the concerns I had over the packaging (and therefore reliability/authenticity of the beer), this beer was pretty meh. If anyone can confirm/deny the packaging as real (or send me a real one!) that would be great but my review stands.

6/11/2011

Bottle shared by riko, thanks! Snifter.

A: Pours near black with a small light brown head.

S: Lightly smokey, with faint chocolate notes. Faint oak and a whisper of vanilla. No evident bourbon. Malt profile is biscuity, bready, and a little nutty. Smells like an English Brown, not a Stout.

T: Nutty and biscuity with notes of oak. Why would they call this a stout? No evident bourbon. Like an English brown.

M: Lighter medium in body with moderate carbonation. Mouthfeel is creamy and smooth.

Overall: This is not a barrel aged stout. It tastes like an English brown aged on oak chips for a week. It's actually a pretty tasty English Brown, but nothing like a Stout.

05/22/11- Review of a 22 oz bottle.
A: BLack with dark brown hues and a dark tan collar and film with no lacing.
S: Coffee, earthy wood character, bitter chocolate, oats, slight green hops, and mild.
T: Bitter chocolate, cocoa powder, lingering mild whiskey, relatively simple, but not offensive. Very earthy.
M: Chewy thick, creamy. and with a good clean finish.
O: Decent--there's not much bourbon character--but it is pleasant. I probably will only try it again on tap.

Poured into an E&J Cask & Cream glass on 5/1/11

Dark cola brown, settling near black in the glass. Two fingers of tan foam rises at a slant. The head thins slowly, eventually leaving 1/8th in retention in the center and a thicker ring. Impressive swaths of lace.

There isn't a lot of bourbon or barrel in the nose, just a faint woodiness. Instead, the base beer finds a straightforward, albeit it pleasant enough, roasted/burnt/tangy aroma. Roasted grains, burnt coffee dregs and hints of dark berries. Nice enough but nothing spectacular.

The flavor is heavy on the dry, roasted notes. Roasted coffee and dregs. Hints of espresso. Quite tangy, perhaps a bit too much so. Dark fruits of the peripheries. A little graininess, too. As with the aroma, there isn't much in the way of appreciable bourbon, if any. Barrel characteristics become noticeable after it warms up, but is kept at bay with a subtle mustiness and char note. Earthy bitterness lingers throughout.

Medium-full body; impressive enough given the abv. Languidly flowing feel awash in grainy undercurrents. Carbonation is moderate but puffy.

All told this one isn't too bad. It's easy to drink and the lower abv is a nice change of pace. That said, I wish the bourbon barrels had more time to work over this one. I've only seen it at one place around town but worth a shot if you happen across it.

So, Neil House is barrel aging right out of the gate, eh?

22oz bomber with a really nice looking, high quality label. Poured into a New Belgium globe.

Appearance
This is a mighty fine looking glass of ale. There is a sizable mocha colored head that was a cinch to control and achieve a nice cake of foam. It has very nice retention and lacing. The beer poured out a dark red shade and collected quite black.

Aroma
Sweet milk chocolate and creamy vanilla pair up to give this beer a dessert aroma. The sweet stuff rides over top an earthy and soggy oak character. Bourbon takes a back seat, allowing the notes of the wood come forth. When you do get nips of the bourbon, it travels along with notions of dark fruits.

Taste
At first its difficult to remember that this is only 5% abv and not the typical 12% imperial stout that normally sees barrel aging. This beer has a hoppier, grassier bent to it than your typical -bal. There is a huge amount of coffee flavors here, so much so that I keep checking the label for mention of the addition of coffee. But nay, this is just a well crafted base beer that's been aged pretty well in bourbon barrels. There is a faint acidity like that of strong coffee that brings out licorice and dark fruits. Very dark bittersweet chocolate, some vanilla and worn oak. The finish is grassy with a flash of orange peel, but these things are quickly squashed by coffee and a touch of bourbon.

Mouthfeel
The body is quite full for a small, 5% stout. It clocks in at a healthy medium with a nice smoothness to it. Carbonation is dull and fluffy.

Overall
A very nice one from Neil House. My expectations have been dashed. Well worth the $5.99 price tag.