Bamburana
Oskar Blues Grill & Brew

 

 

 

12 oz can from Homebrewstuff. Pours out a thick dark brown, small beige head. Aroma is chocolate, sweet, figs, hint of whiskey. Taste brings more sweetness from the figs and dates, chocolate, roasty flavors. Late warmth. Slick and slippery.

This is a bit out of my comfort zone. Very strong, thick, a bit treacly, and the taste is a really complex spicy, whiskey, figgy and fruity melange. Kind of like a Christmas pudding. Very, very good, but it didn't leave me wanting more than one.

12oz can. Poured out an opaque, jet-black color with. good-sized, light brown head of foam. It smelled of whiskey, figs, spices, roasted malt and dark chocolate. Rich chocolate and molasses taste with fig, dates and spiciness from the amburana spirals.

 

I am looking to close out the "Better Together" badge on sister site, Untappd. That one awards you one level per every five (5) collaboration beers that you check into. Right now, I am at 487 with this one as 488. Even better is that it furthers The CANQuest (tm)!

From the CAN: "A CANarchy CANlaboration"; "Barrel Aged Bamburana"; "Imperial Stout aged in whiskey and brandy barrels with figs, dates and Amburana wood spirals"; "A collaboration by Oskar Blues Brewery & Cigar City Brewing"; "CANs [-] Infinitely Recyclable"; "Both Barrels Blazing"; "Pack It In, Pack It Out"; "CANarchy Craft Brewery Collective".

OMFG! I Crack!ed open the vent & got a spritz across my fingertips for my troubles! The culprit was once again, a brimful craft CAN with nowhere for the tongue to go. 8=O I CANtinued as planned with a slow, gentle C-Line Glug since the hour was growing late & I did not want to deal with any potential mess. It foamed up to form two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, deep-brown head, but it suddenly exhaled & fell like Wile E. Coyote off of a cliff! 8=O Color was stygian Black/Opaque (SRM = 44), not only allowing ZERO light penetration, but it was also sucking the light out of the room! 8=O Nose indicated that the brandy barrels had won the CANtest with the whiskey barrels, plus the fruits were no slouches, either. There were many times, as an underway sailor, that I subsisted solely on Fresh Fruit & Vegetables (FF&V) and figs & dates while in the Med were a special treat. The nose alone evoked a LOT of pleasant memories. Mouthfeel was big, thick & full, like a dollop had been scooped into my mouth & onto my tongue. The taste was a riot of dried dark fruit, chocolate, tobacco, cigars, brandy & light whiskey, all vying for superiority. Phew! I felt like I was punching above my weight class. I am SO glad that I grabbed one of these when it was originally released! One was plenty, since the finish was not only dry, but I felt like I had taken a punch to the solar plexus. Phew. What a gem. YMMV.

 

 

12 ounce can into a snifter. Canned 1/10/19, had 2/21/19.

Pours dark, thick looking, mostly opaque, with little head and some specks of cling. Guessing that great, spicy aroma is the Amburana wood. Other aromas of brandy, chocolate, dates, some figs, malt, light whiskey- more as it warms, light molasses and char, oak, light licorice. Getting hints of coconut and cinnamon, too. Flavors of the Amburana wood, whiskey, brandy, chocolate, figs, dates, malt, oak, some molasses, light vanilla and licorice. Smooth, a solid full body, well carbonated.

The Amburana wood is clearly the star here, it gives off a terrific character. The figs and dates show really well also, and the barrels are solid contributors. One of the best collaboration beers I can remember.

12 oz can with a January 2019 canning date stamp on the bottom. Revisited with same canning date in October 2020.
Pours near black with a decent tan head.
This is a delightful, lightly sweet, complex Imperial Stout. The mix of vanilla, bourbon, brandy, dark dried fruits, wood, and dark roasted grains is superb. Somehow there is a hint of coconut in the mix. The high ABV is not obvious in the aroma but only partially hidden in the flavor and feel.
REVISIT: With nearly two years of aging it may still be improving.

Found a lonely old can in a bottle shop and scooped it up. 13 months old. There's something odd in the aroma, but feel and taste are fantastic. Smooth and creamy chocolate, cinnamon, coconut, fig and similar dark fruits, brandy, tobacco, apple, vanilla, an odd woody taste I'll assume is the amburana.
Complex and interesting flavors. Super creamy feel. It's great at this age, hope to find it fresh some day.

L - 2-finger stubborn hazelnut head atop a pitch black body.

S - vanilla, molasses, dark candy, chocolate, oak. Love the nose.

T - so much chocolate and vanilla! Tastes like an adult milkshake, with booze inserting itself only slightly mid-sip. I love the effect of the barrels here. Dark fruit, ancient wood, molasses, coconut, expensive wine. Low bitterness. Moderate-low sweetness. Moderate-low booziness.

F - medium-full body with appropriate carb.

O - I love everything about this beer.

Huge thanks to Donnie for giving me this huge personal want that was unavailable in my state.

12oz can - dated 01/10/19 - poured into an 8oz short stem at cellar temp (55ish)

Pours a used motor oil/molasses brown, sitting midnight black in the glass with absolutely zero light penetration. Half a finger of loose, fizzy, deep brown head forms before quickly fizzing out to a still top and a thin collar of foam. Sparse spots of lacing are deposited after a swirl in the glass. 4.5

Nose: Right from the start, it is quite clear that this isn't just a typical bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout. There is a lot going on here. Classic straightforward imperial stout roasty malts - no added coffee, no added chocolate - just deep roasty malt, with no overly charry or acrid ashen notes, and a suggestion of bittersweet cocoa. Next comes the brandy barrel, which I find to dominate the bourbon barrel a bit. Sweet, warm, oaky brandy with undertones of caramel, fruitcake, vanilla bean, French oak spice, raisin, red dessert wine/concentrated wine grape, Pedro Ximenez sherry, and complex mature Armagnac notes. There is a hint of sweet brown sugar and oaky, dusty bourbon underneath the brandy characteristics. An absolute explosion of dark fruit, with notes of blueberry, dates, fig, prune, cherry, raisin, and even a bit of dried pear and dried papaya in the mix. The Amburana wood is immediately and surprisingly evident, with these complex, unfamiliar spice notes. There is definitely a big suggestion of cinnamon, as well as some freshly shaved nutmeg, cardamom, black licorice, and star anise. There are wood spice notes I simply cannot describe, and they're so unique and I have nothing to compare it to. Tahitian vanills bean, and with s deep inhale, there's a faint note of cinnamon waffles. So incredibly unique, and that Amburana wood is not at all hidden. 4.5

Palate: The beer greets the palate with an immediate sweetness, which is quite full, bordering on dessert, but not cloying or syrupy. That brandy barrel once again does not shy away, and lends all the same traits as is does in the aroma, plus a little bit of warm, sweet spirit character. The Amburana wood is front and centre, opening with an explosion of Vietnamese cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cardamom, vanilla bean, cedar, Turkish tobacco, and more spicy, woody flavours that cannot be explained. Again, following the nose, a huge dark fruit presence lending blueberry, maraschino cherry, fresh honey-drizzled fig, madjool dates, prune, fresh plum, and sundried raisin. Deep roast lends a dusting of cocoa, cacao nib, and Turkish coffee, with a little extra roast from the charred bourbon barrels. Never is the beer charry, acrid, ashen, or bitter from heavy roast, as it's just balanced enough to lend that drying roasty depth, without becoming bitter charcoal or burned in any way. The wood spice and dark fruit lead into this roast, which sets up the finish, very slowly drying out the rich sweetness, and lingering on and on with basically subtle notes of everything the beer opened up with, the Amburana spirals holding strong throughout the ridiculously long finish. 4.5

Mouthfeel/Body: The beer is absolutely full- bodied and rich. It may lack the seriously fudgy texture of some big heavy hitter stouts, but it still has plenty of heft, viscosity, and little bit of chew in its slick, rich, decadent body. Effervescence is fine and fuzzy, and impressively present for a barrel-aged stout of this calibre. Medium-low carb, not even close to being flat, or even lacking. The finish has drying properties, but this is a big, sweet, sticky beer. 4.25

Overall: I've wanted to get my hands on this for about a year now. While there was no real hype surrounding this beer, I knew I had to have it, as everything about it sounded like it would be right up my alley. It does not at all disappoint, even in the slightest. The brandy barrel presence is forward and really helps set the barrel-aged tone, and I could not have hoped for more from the Amburana addition. The insanely complex spice notes alongside cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg take this beer to a whole other level, as do the incredibly forward dark fruit notes bringing such a unique blueberry flavour to the mix. You could sell this as a Mexican Hot Cocoa stout with blueberries, and if you slapped a hypey name onto it, this would be in high demand. What an incredible beer. 4.25

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pitch black with one finger of peanut butter fudge colored crown resting on top.

The nose brings spice, booze and a touchy of fruity citrus (maybe from the brandy barrels) mainly getting spiciness and a straight alcohol booze. The spice is like a cinnamon crusted bread.

The taste brings that same effect. I get a lot of cinnamon coated bread, cinnamon roll etc. slight dark fruits like raisin.

Has a pretty good amount of alcohol present, although it does seem to fade a little as it warms. Not too sweet.

Overall, I like the flavors it brings. It definitely becomes more complex as it warms and that straight alcohol fades off and the other aspects open up.

Going spicy for the holidays, Oskar Blues teams up with Cigar City for a stone fruit drenched flavor piled high on an imperial stout, then layer down for a long slumber in both whisky and brandy barrels, and soaking up all the wholesome goodness of amburana wood.

Thus, their beer, Bamburana’s jet black appearance gleans with an onyx shine while crowning with a frothy, arid foam structure. Spicy and fruity, the nose nearly misses the roast of stout behind. Whisky spice and tar fills the nose before its sweetness rushes onto the early palate with dark chocolate, coffee, campfire, brown sugar and scorched molasses.

The strong spice, char and fruit earthiness continues to batter the middle palate, laying ashy tracks of charred wood, brushfire and smoldering embers behind. The tarnish sweetness of figs and dates fuse with the brandy spice seamlessly while the whisky drives home an oaken spice with a cautiously astringent late taste.

Full bodied and much drier than it should be, this collaborative stout leaps out of the barrels with a brazen heat, prickling the tongue and numbing the senses. Its intense spice needs a greater support from malt sweetness that has dried out way too much.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LOOK - Super dark black - like deep space black - no light at all coming through this one - low almost a 1 finger head upon a semi-violent pour from a 12oz can (of course out of a can from Oskar Blues) - decent retention but the low head depth is understandable with the high ABV and being barrel aged.....
SMELL - Super strong and pungent chocolate, booze, caramel, coffee, fig, plum, tootsie-roll, slight citrus (orange). Very complex aroma from this one. Some smokiness trails off at the end
TASTE - Very boozy but doesn't seem to be the 12.2% mentioned on the can - strong dark brown sugar and toffee/chocolate/coffee explode in relentlessly - VERY sweet at first but the booze cuts through the desert-like flavor and then more flavors rush in like charred oak, dark roasted barley, caramel syrup, and some coffee, while drying out for the most part - I was left with a more smokey finish with some of the dark brown sugar, fig, date, and chocolate flavors hanging on
FEEL - Right where it needs to be - thick and syrupy but yet not too thick - a touch more carbonation would be just perfect but not mandatory - really good
OVERALL - I really have not had any other barrel aged beers that rate up there with this one (Bourbon County, The Abyss, Big Bad Baptist, Yeti, Parabola, CBS)

 

Amazingly complex and original, this brew delivers a nice pitch black body with a thin mocha head.
The fig is there, the date is there, the barrel aging is there. The torreifed notes are there. The mouthfeel is great. The balance and drinkability are amazing

 

Sampling a cellar temp 12 oz can that I picked up a few months ago and have been drinking others from the 4 pack. Last one tonight, means I should type up some notes.

The beer pours into my glass a dark cola color with tan fluffy head of 3 cm. This spongey foam fades slowly leaving some large craters on the surface as the foam pops. There is also some dense lattice on the sides of my glass.
The aroma is rich and malty with brown sugar and some roasted malt. This mixes with some cinnamon and sort of chicory notes and dark chocolate too. Rich and fairly complex nose, I like it a lot.

First sip reveals an average body with smooth texture and gentle slightly spacious carbonation. I expected a little more thickness but these traits make for an easy drinking (dangerously so!) beer.
The flavor is a nice mix of malt profiles. I get dark roasted malts, dark chocolate, brown sugar, all up front when the beer hits my palate. This rolls to some spiciness, again cinnamon and chicory and maybe even some cayenne, which I know isnt in there. Could just be a cinnamon palate trick. I also get some dark fruit, figs and raisin notes here. Didnt get the fruit on the nose. I dont get any hop character to speak of and the booze is well hidden with only the slightest warmth on the swallow.

I really have enjoyed this beer over the 4 cans I purchased, and I would buy more if I see it anywhere. This is well worth a grab if you like big stouts with complex flavor profiles, and dont mind having a decent buzz at the end of the can! Excellent brew!

 

 

 

Can 1/2019:
The beer leaving the can is a near black stream with some rusty highlights. The pour doesn’t look too thick, and the rust roils below the surface as the glass fills. A pause in the pour releases the pressure and a brown clay colored head expands above the liquid. It falls at a moderate pace, and settles into a fuzzy layer of left to its own devices. A sheet of brown is like a window shade being drawn down the other side of the glass as I sip.

The aroma was a little impatient, and I got a cinnamon and root spice scent as I poured. Nose down, I get a cinnamon raisin toast with brown sugar compound butter with a side of coffee that has berry notes. A hint of whiskey spice hides in back.

The flavor is actually sweeter than I expected, despite the notes of brown sugar in the nose. The extra sweetness does not really weigh the beer down as much as it could. The beer is really smooth, with light carbonation; the spice makes up for this a bit.

For the taste, that berry coffee comes forward from its place in the back of the nose. I feel like the brandy and dark fruits combine to be more of a raisin taste. I also get a bit of a robust red wine in the mid-taste, presumably to brandy barrel influence. The late flavors include the spice and some aspect of wood - be it the spirals or barrels I couldn’t tell. The spice joins with the roasted malt to form a spiced cola (a la root/birch beer) initially, but lasts beyond the roast to bring a light bite.

I loved this beer from the get go, and it is a top ten for me. Forced to nitpick I might say I think it could be a little less sweetness and a little more roast. Then again, what would I give up from this truly enjoyable beer to get those things.