Liquid Spiritual Delight - Peerless Rye Barrel-Aged
2nd Shift Brewing

Look - black and thick with nice rimming and lacing
Smell and taste - Really nice caramel char barrel with a rye spice along with nice chocolate malt. The smell is the same but a level below the taste.
Feel - medium full body with a light slightly crisp carb
Overall - fantastic

 

Pours black with a finger of mocha colored foam. Head retention is surprisingly decent despite a moderate film of oil on top of the liquid. Aroma is rich brownie batter, toffee, molasses, and fragments of caramel. Roasty and toasty malts add bold support and structure, with char, barrel, and rye spice bolstering its emphasis and potency. While whiskey is evident in the aroma, it's not enough to push the heat over the top into unbalanced territory. Flavor profile is a little more refined, but tagging a lot of the same notes. Brownie batter, caramel, and vanilla mingle with char, barrel, roasty and toasty malts, and subtle rye whiskey. While the aroma comes across a little more sugary sweet (though, not remotely dessert like), the flavor profile is a little more burly and bitter. Mouth feel is thick with a velvety texture that combines well with a frothy effervescence. Overall, a stout that is emboldened and enhanced greatly by its barrel usage, without going over the top or leaning into flavor additives. A fun sipper.

Served in a 15.5oz Speigealu tulip from a 12oz can. 10/20/23 canned date, consumed/reviewed 8/4/2024.

poured from a 12oz can into a TG DBA tumbler. pours dark, dark brown but gathers in the glass a shiny black with not quite a finger of mocha brown foam head. aromas of chocolate, caramel and bourbon. taste follows. i get quite if but of caramel in this which i really dig. quite a bit of chocolate as well. the barrels don’t carry a lot of that spiciness usually associated with rye whiskey. super sturdy and full mouthfeel. remains thick from the moment it coats the mouth through to the finish. this is damn good stuff.

Sampling a 12 oz can poured into my snifter at cellar temperature. Date Stamped packaged on 10/20/2023.
Beer pours a dark black coffee color and no light passes through my glass. A dense yet creamy tan head of .5 cm foams up and fades to a very sturdy and clingy edge layer. More legs than lacing when I swirl the glass or take a sip.
Aroma is dark chocolate fudge, some sweet bourbon notes and a bit of vanilla. Not boozy fusol notes and no hop character. Seems pretty direct for what I expect on the nose.
First sip reveals a medium to thick body with pretty soft texture and very fine sort of prickly carbonation. Definitely sharper bubbles than I anticipated. A little sticky on my lips after each sip.
Flavor is similar to the nose with dark fudge and bourbon notes. Not really any vanilla here. I get some dark chocolate candy bar too, a little bit of sweetness and hints of roasted malt. hop character absent and booze totally hidden.
Pretty nice straightforward bourbon barrel aged imperial stout. glad to have tried this one.