Twelve Gauge Horchata Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
Payette Brewing

one of the variants of this i have not had before, glad i got the chance. lots of changes with these guys over the last little while, moving out of idaho and all, i know this predates all that, but i think i think of them differently now, whatever, this is great beer and thats all that matters really right? i dont think this tastes much like horchata, the roast intensity and even the barrel char kind of run over that a little bit, but its a well made and nicely nuanced big stout that, like its not appreciably rice based or anything, spice is subtle, its vanilla and barrel that stand out the most, but thats not really a critique, there is a lot to like about this. deep and dark, some froth to the short head, nice retention actually from the tap, mid brown color and all lathered up. the aroma here is nice, even ice cold there is plenty going on, good whiskey, old oak, strong and sweet vanilla but not too sweet overall, balanced by an espresso warmth, dark cocoa character, a lot of roast, and a chocolate richness, pretty well hidden alcohol here too, still grainy not just flavored beer, and i dig the restraint there, some editions of this have been a little overdone, but this is tasteful right away. vanilla woven all through the dark malts in the flavor, not too much but its the most identifiable horchata element, silky smooth the whole way, never boozy or bitter despite all the dark grain. subtle cinnamon perhaps, but this doesnt really quite get to horchata for me, and i dont mind, plenty happening with the base stout, nice chocolate character, a good amount of wood and char, great depth but also body and smoothness to this, a little more substantial maybe than some of the others have seemed, more like oaty and protein rich, the right amount of heavy for what it is, long on the palate without crippling residual sugar, very good. these are the payette beers i will miss if they go away for real, curious what happens to their presence here, but thankful for this one, a top variant of this in my experience to date...

12oz can pours very dark brown, sits black in glass, opaque with a dark mocha-colored head. There is a good amount of vanilla sweetness, spiced barrel character, bourbon notes, some caramel, charred oak, roasted malts, chocolate and coffee. To me, this one was better than this years base version.