Crooked Trails
Free Will Brewing Co.

The addjunks here are deftly used adding nice subtleties rather than overpowering a marvelous barrel aged stout. The pepper addition comes across as a gentle, woody spice for instance. Great beer.

This is a large stout in a little can (8.4 oz). Thick and viscous with excellent body balancing out the substantial ABV. Cinnamon takes center stage throughout, with minimal barrel or heat to be found. Vanilla and cocoa flavors play backup roles. Sweet but not overly so. Perhaps a larger serving would last longer for the other advertised flavors to flourish, but no, not with these tiny cans. This is an excellent stout, don't get me wrong, but it falls shy of world class as it needs more barrel complexity lack of heat not withstanding.

Imperial stout aged in Cognac barrel and Blanton's bourbon barrel with New Mexico red Chile powder, cinnamon and vanilla beans. Nice barrel flavors and warm Chile powder finish 15.2 abv kick

 

 

The body and, especially, the head have a bit of a reddish hue thanks, I presume, to the chile powder. Much better head retention than anticipated. Good-looking big-ass stout. And I do mean big-ass; a point that is driven home when you smell this behemoth. Great barrel notes, but it's incredibly well blended with the chile powder, cinnamon and vanilla. Cinnamon and vanilla are two add-junks that I tend to shy away from because some get too heavy-handed with them, but that doesn't appear to be the case here. The cinnamon, in fact, plays really well on the nose. And the chile powder somehow smells like fresh chiles. Damn. This may be the first 5 I've ever given on smell. Anyway, the taste is an expert balancing act as well. Bourbon and cognac booziness up front, followed by cinnamon and chile spice. Kind of a surprisingly sweet finish, but certainly not overdone. Tastes a bit like Mexican hot chocolate. Something of a spicy bitterness lingers after you sip. It's not unpleasant, though. I've been a fan of Free Will for a minute now, but I think this may be their best beer I've tried. Outstanding. Also, these 8.4 ounce cans they switched to recently for their barrel-aged stouts are a big win from where I sit. Better value (4 pack vs one bomber) and pretty much the perfect serving size for something of this octane.

250 ml cans, poured into snifter at cellar temp

pours jet black, with nice tan colored head. decent head retention for a big beer. Aroma and taste has a ton of complexity from the two different barrels (cognac and bourbon), and great mild smokey pepper notes blended with woody earthy cinnamon and vanilla. Not too sweet, and incredibly smooth for the strength. silky mouthfeel. Overall it's excellent.