Barrel-Aged Framinghammer | Jack's Abby Brewing

4.31/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Bottle from 4/2014 and won by me in auction. Assume proper care was kept. Poured into teku glass.

L: 1F minimal head with no lacing and only a thin off-white ring. Beer is a perfect black.

S: Bourbon barrel is up front, but not overwhelmingly so. Cocoa, caramel, vanilla, and finally roasted malts come next. No hint of alcohol. Quite nice.

T: Follows nose to a large extent. Bourbon barrel up front, cocoa, caramel, vanilla next and as is usual the cocoa and vanilla qualities carry through the finish. Roasted and maybe slightly burnt malts on the finish and there is a little bit of bitterness and maybe even a touch of the Four Roses that was in the barrel. Very little hint of alcohol. Quite solid and tasty.

F: Definitely retains the quality of a porter as it is on the light side of medium with some carbonation extant, so you do get a bit of drying. Very solid construction and balance is quite good. No idea what this was like newly bottled, but flavors do seem to have rounded and mellowed nicely.

O: Excellent barrel-aged porter. Since I will be in the area in April, I will check to see if this years vintage is available and see what I can cellar.

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3.84/5  rDev -11.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

4.36/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

4.23/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

4.04/5  rDev -6.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

4.06/5  rDev -6.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

4/5  rDev -7.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

4.25/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

4.27/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

4.7/5  rDev +8.5%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

4.25/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

4.5/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

4.25/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

4.35/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Service: Bottle
Bottled: Spring (?) 2016


A:
Pours pitch black with a creamy khaki head that sticks around pretty well, eventually dropping to a ring. Okay retention; sheets of random lacing. (4.25)

S:
Caramelized sugar and whiskey astringency, some cinnamon-like spiciness, baker's cocoa, blackberry. (4.25)

T:
Rich sweet malt layers with smooth vanilla flavor from the barrel. Smooth layers of sugars, maple, oak, candied bourbon, vanilla, and mocha. (4.5)

M:
Smooth and a little slick, gentle carbonation, smooth finish. (4.25)

O:
This is a smooth, together, tasty fucking beer.
It is lovely in the glass with lacy lacing. The flavors and aromas are perfectly melded together, balanced, inviting and generally good. Roast sugar, roast malt, no burnt astringency, no heat, vanilla barrel character. Mmmm. Well-hidden alcohol, nice mellow bourbon barrel presence. As with all their beers, everything is just as it should be, restrained and well-balanced.
I would definitely have this one again. (4.25)

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4.28/5  rDev -1.2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

3.97/5  rDev -8.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

4.38/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

4.28/5  rDev -1.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

4.03/5  rDev -6.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

4.25/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

3.88/5  rDev -10.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours a watery dark brown but sits black and opaque in the glass. Smell is not as barrel forward as I would like. Definitely smells better than the regular with hints of bourbon and a balanced sweet and roasty nose. You get notes of caramel and slight hint of vanilla. The tastes is sweet on the front end with a bitter roasted finish that is smoothed out by bourbon notes from the barrel. The feel is light with a good amount of carbonation. Overall it is ok but nothing world class as it needs more barrel and a more balanced presentation.

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4/5  rDev -7.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

4.4/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

4/5  rDev -7.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

4.11/5  rDev -5.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25