Barrel Aged Shuksan
Kulshan Brewing Company

 

Served On-Tap

A — Pours a jet black hue with a thin coffee colored head, some sticky, oily lacing is left behind with each sip.

S — Smell is strongly focused on Whiskey and oak, with hints of white oak, vanilla, charred malts, cocoa powder.

T — Rich and sweet, chocolate, coffee, cocoa, bitter astringent oak, vanilla, Whiskey.

M — Medium-Full bodied, lingering and long-lasting finish.

O — Good overall, not sure the best barrels were used here as there are some quite astringent notes throughout.

 

This beer is not bad, but could use a tweak or two...

2015-01-16
750ml corked/caged bottle. Took a feat of strength to pull the cork. Date stamped on the label might be December 03, 2014. Poured into a large snifter at fridge temp, left to sit for 20ish minutes.

Pours black, with a medium sized brown head, that fades at a medium pace. Moderate amount of very fine carbonation. Smell is stouty. Dark fruits/cherry. nice soft scotch aroma, vanilla, coffee. Rich and warm.

Taste is dark chocolate, coffee, slightly creamy. alcohol, sour dark fruit.

Mouthfeel is thick and gritty. Overall, nice beer.

 

Poured into a Firestone Walker snifter. Pours pitch black, opaque in the glass with a thin khaki head that leaves light lacing. Mild aroma of dark toasted malt, coffee and hints of chocolate and whiskey. Flavor is dark toasted malt with light peaty smokiness, robust coffee, light chocolate, hints of whiskey and oak, toasty malt and hop finish. Medium bodied, lighter than expected. I'm at a disadvantage of not having tried the base beer for this, but this is a roasty, light bodied stout. A lot of nice smokiness to the malt and both the aroma and taste would have led me to believe there was added coffee here, although there is no indication that has been added. Charred coffee and toasted malt are a nice combination. Body is ligher than expected from such a robut stour, but the flavor is full and roasty. Not getting much of the barrel influence, neither much oak nor whiskey, but there are hints and it adds a bit of depth to the flavor. The thinner body may be due to the aging process. A nice full flavored Russian imperial stout on the smoky, toasty end of the flavor spectrum.