Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout (Signature Series)
America's Brewpub

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bottle poured to snifter @ Lunar

A- jet black viscous pour that yielded a faint head that faded fast and left little lacing

S- holy s**t! Just pouring this beer had an intense bourbon kick. Once poured, it smells like a black cherry chocolate shake with a bourbon floater

T- tart dark fruit kick, followed by a nice oak driven chocolate bourbon assault. Booze level is high, but oh so awesome

M- a little thinner than the pour would make you assume, but perfect carbonation and the oak resin boozey taste that lingers make up for it

D- for a 12% abv beer, this is smooth and seductive. It'll draw you in, and kick your ass!

12 oz bottle poured into a snifter. No date or info.

My thanks go out to orbitalr0x for this brew. I didn't even know there was a brewery in Aurora!

A - It took a vigrorous, splashing tall pour to coax the finger-tall dark mocha head from the beer. Did the room get darker when I poured this? It's as black as ink. Moderate retention and a lack of lace from the head.

S - Slap-in-the-face strong oak and bourbon unleashes from this beer. Alcohol isn't shy one bit and it seems a bottle of soy sauce may have accidentally made it into the batch as well. Roasted malts are an afterthought and give the beer a little character beyond booze. I like the wood but the soy and hot alcohol need some taming.

T - Bitter chocolate, coffee, and molasses hide helplessly behind an onslaught of hot bourbon, dry oak, and a disgusting soy finish. The first sip was a punishment to my taste-buds but somehow I worked up the courage to try some more. It's not so bad when you're expecting it...as if that's a good excuse.

M - This is surprisingly thin! It's more medium-bodied and very booze-rich but not solventy on the finish. Dry and acrid bitter but not too strong in that regard.

D - Sorry Don! I hope it's not an insult to you and the home-town boys, but I won't be finishing this one, but I appreciate the chance to try something new. The flavor is pure alcohol and I trembled with fear when I smelled the soy sauce as it sent my mind reeling back to the horror of Sam Adams Triple Bock. It seems that it was in barrels far too long or the original beer put in was incredibly weak. This needs some real work to hang with the bourbon-barrel-big dogs that dominate the market right now. Additionally, from a brewery that calls themselves "America's Brewing Co." (maybe there's history to this - don't know) I'd expect something a hell of a lot better.

Extra in a trade. 12 oz. bottle...

A: Super pitch black. 3 inch thick mocha colored head that slowly fades but never really disappears. Very good.

S: Sweet black licorice upfront blended nice with creamy vanilla. A nice oakiness in the middle and roastiness on the backend. Good.

T: Carbonated chocolate upfront blended with hints of vanilla. Hints of booziness in the middle with roasty licorice on the backend. A little strange of a blend. Kind of like chocolate flavored sparkling water. Good.

M: Over-carbonated. Ok here.

D: Goes down decent. After you get past the strange blend of flavor, it goes down. Decent.

All in all, this is a decent brew. A strange blend of flavors, but not bad. Good brew to try at least once.

12 oz. From notes, 2008.
Dark brown/black pour. Rather dark brown head that disappated quickly. Boozy aroma, some roast malts. Taste was a little light, roast malt, caramel. A bit of tartness. Oak barrel comes through a bit as it warms. Finishes with too much alcohol. Definetely on the thin side as well. In my opinion the stout was not able to stand up to the barrel aging.

A: Dark black with a nice puffy head that is not too big with decent rentetion but no lacing

S: It smells like markers mark or seagrams 7 with lots of woodiness and heavy bourbon notes, however it also is lacking the punch i would have liked for such a bourbon bomb

T: It falls a bit flat as the bourbon is there but it is mellow and lacks any sort of roastiness. It reminds me of black ops but way better in the sense that both are clearly using wet barrels but they end up having a damp woody taste

M: Somewhat flat and somewhat light in terms of body, it seems like a lot of sugar was used just to up the alcohol

D: Not bad, and I would be up for trying this again but it i was happy with what i had

Single bottle bought as I am a big fan of barrel aged beers I was very anxious to try this. It was a huge let down.

It looked like a normal stout, it lacked that motor oil appearance.

Smell was okay, not too bourbony, mainly rich chocolate notes.

Taste was horrible, tasted like a burnt beer. It was not a nice winter sipper beer as I had hoped.

Mouthfeel was WAY to watery.

Drinkability was poor, after my two sips it was poured out.

Will not seek this one out again, at least my 3.50 for a single bottle won't have me crying to the bank. No substitute for BCBS or KBS.

Lightly chilled 12oz bottle into a glass. A very generous gift from Dyan. Thanks, man. I was waiting for a tasting to share this, but I seem to miss them all lately.

A: A pitch black body in my Palm tulip. A vigorous pour is rewarded with a finger of dark mocha-colored head. Retention is short, but the film persists as a thick, fine-bubbled collar on the brew, with some broken film on top.

S: Caramelly bourbon and chocolate. A hint of tannins and vanilla. Light booze and a hint of soy.

T: Leads off with bourbon, caramel, bourbon, and hints of bourbon over chocolate. The mid-taste produces a hint of roast and more tannins than I encountered in the nose. The finish brings out vanilla, smoke, and notes of oxidation (manifesting as a salty soy flavor). Slight peppery sting in the finish. Not bad, but decidedly supbar and one-dimensional for an oversaturated style.

M: Oily texture and a fairly viscous body. Low carbonation. Some booze is noticeable in the finish; I don't know how old this is, but it still has some heat.

D: I didn't hate it, but for a barrel-aged IS, it's well below average. I appreciate the opportunity to try this, though. Thanks, Dyan.

Bottle poured into Duvel tulip glass. Dark black/brown with some tan lacing. Smells of bourbon and cherry with a very wine-like characteristic. Taste is a sour mix of bourbon and wine with a strong acidic vinegar presence, very offbeat for an imperial stout. Silky rich mouthfeel. Alcohol is hidden well.

Poured from a bottle into a pint glass. Thanks, stubone!

Pitch black pour. Late-blooming mocha colored foam. Head reaches about one finger. Good retention, with some nice stickage.

Sweet caramel, chocolate, bourbon. Some roasted barley, but not nearly enough for a quality imperial stout. The sweetness dominates. Lightly boozy.

Again, not nearly enough of a roasted quality to be a great barrel-aged imperial stout. Definitely favors the sweet side, with a light woody flavor in the finish.

Good texture. Thick, just short of chewy. Low carbonation level is appropriate. Outside of the nose, the alcohol is never really noticeable. I was quite surprised to see this one weigh in at 12%, as it was a pretty easy drinker.

Aggressively poured into snifter...

A: Pours like motor oil, pitch black, thick, viscous, and absolutely no head....

S: Wow...this smells unreal! Huge bourbon, oak, molasses right off the bat. Definitely get some dark fruit almost like rum soaked raisins and cherries, smells very sweet and the abv really comes through as well. In the background I pick up some vanilla and cocoa as well.

T: This is delicious! Follows the nose, lots of bourbon and molasses upfront, caramel malt mixed with dark fruits, definitely get the raisin coming through, did I say lots of bourbon?! The vanilla and chocolate round out the complexity, along with a faint bit of roasted coffee. Very nice overall!

M: Heavy mouthfeel, borderline syrup here with only a faint hint of carbonation, just enough to remind you that its a beer. Would be nice to have just a touch more but its still nice for 12%.

D: You can taste the booze, but not like its 12%, hides it very well and the complexity of this beer is so good it could go down very easy!

I'm broke and still drinking random stuff from the cellar ... Tonight seems like a RIS night. Got this one way back in October '08 from orbitalr0x ... Don hooked my up with an awesome trade.

Poured into my Delirium goblet.. Short lasting brown head... no real lacing.. black brew.

I don't know if the age helped, but this smells fantastic... Deep milk chocolate .... nice bourbon and vanilla notes ... hints of brown sugar and cinnamon ... really a great nose.

Flavor loses anything from the nose... a bit of dark cherry essence rounds out the RIS flavors... fudgy toward the finish.. oak seems a bit musky/tannic.. medium body with good carbonation.

The nose couldn't get much better... the flavor while good, was a little too fruity and had too much oak for my tastes... this is gonna take me a while to finish this.

3.5/5/4/4/3.5

Thanks again Don... We should do it again sometime.

Pours like a melted chocolate bar, dark in color and thick. The head is thin and the color of cappuccino. It thins and fades as I type and is gone before I even have a chance to take a proper smell.

Mmmm BIG beer. The nose is an homage to chocolate, earthy charred oak and vanilla bourbon. There is even a little hint of coffee and sweet coconut milk. This begs to be drank and the scents get more pronounced as it warms to room temperature.

The flavor goes more towards the coffee side of things with a bitterness like an acrid cup of joe. Sweet boozy grains follow with chocolate and vanilla notes. Following weakly in the background are the barrel flavors. The nose has plenty of the bourbon barrel tones but the flavor seriously lacks any of that character. What it does have is a dry boozy flavor that tastes more like a processed extract beer then a really good sumptuous Imperial Stout.

The mouthfeel also dips from the high water mark set by the nose. An Imperial Stout should be thick and chewy with a rich velvety mouthfeel. It looks like it would but in actuality this brew is thin, watered down. It's got more body then your typical ale but not really in the neighborhood of stouts. Combine that with a dry and crusty finish instead of the big flavors lingering and you have a beer that looks and smells better then it actually tastes. It's still a very drinkable beer but it looses it's steam in the end and ultimately is a disappointment.