Elbow Room
Brewmaster Jack

Old-oil black, with light, dark tan head.
Smells like yesterday's black coffee. Not entirely pleasant in that regard. Better as it warms .
Taste is lightly sweetened black coffee , a little dark chocolate, and roasty malt. No apparent alcohol warmth. Hides it well.
Moderate, slightly oily feel, with mildly creamy carbonation.
Overall, a positive experience, that I wouldn't turn down if offered, but wouldn't seek out for a re-visit.

Surpassingly light?

 

 

 

 

 

Got this one in Buffalo this past summer

From a bomber into a snifter
Whisky barrel aged and conditioned with coffee from Elbow Room in Williamsburg, MA.

APPEARANCE: Pours out clear dark brown and yields a three finger, medium looking, foamy and fizzy tan head with decent retention. Clear black body with a touch of carbonation evident. Head slowly fizzes down to a potholed foam cap leaving lots of foamy lacing on the glass. Big carbonation stream up the middle. Splotchy wisp remains with some decent lacing down the glass. Ok color and a slightly lack-luster head.

SMELL: Sweet, creamy coffee, lightly roasted character, milk chocolate, with some vanilla and butterscotch aromas as well. Subdued whisky and oak in there too.

TASTE: Rather watery, unfortunately. Some lightly roasted coffee and sweet whisky notes up front, but it’s somewhat empty. Coffee comes across as flat and stale, with a green pea character as well. A medium but lingering finish of stale coffee, some green pea, butterscotch, milk chocolate and some light wood flavors. Whisky is rather bland. Not nearly as interesting as the nose had led on.

PALATE: Medium body and medium carbonation. Soft on the palate, a touch watery but smooth enough going down, finishing a bit drier for the style. Okay here.

OVERALL: This is a bit of a disappointment. The feel is fine and nose showed promise, but it really fell flat in the flavor profile. Watery, mute, with very little barrel character and the coffee additions came across as stale. As excited as I was to give this one a shot, it really was a let down. Not something I’d want to pick up again. Pass.

 

 

 

 

22oz bottle shared with several people. Poured a very dark brown almost full black color with a dark creamy head. Scent of coffee is present along with some chocolate notes. Coffee flavor was pretty strong, but there was zero evidence that this was barrel aged. Breakfast beer for coffee lovers! I would drink again, but my rating is because the barrel ageing is not present as advertised.

Pours a mocha colored smaller fizzy bubbly head that fades quickly, long chocolaty legs with a pitch black thick beer.

Nose starts semi sweet, lots of chocolate, dark chocolate and baker's chocolate, cocoa, a little fudge, nice cookie dough biscuity goodness, a little fluffy nougat even, some roasted coffee, fresh nutty coffee grinds, and a little tannic roast, some caramel, toffee, and creme brulee, burnt coffee, nutty with some baking spices, a flash of vanilla otherwise no barrel characters.

Taste brings sweet thick malts, very thick somewhat syrupy but chewy creamy thick beer, creamy oats and so chewy it's like a mouth full of oatmeal, lots of dark chocolate, cocoa, baker's chocolate, a straight up chocolate malt and dark roasted barley, coffee is more background than the nose was, but definitely some freshly ground coffee beans, nutty coffee, a little fruity coffee bean too, mild baking spices and biscuity cookie dough, some fudge and caramel, and nougat, a flash of vanilla again otherwise no barrel and no whiskey!, a little burnt roast but not really tannic, maybe a touch acrid later, as it attempts to dry a lot more fresh coffee grinds and burn acrid roast come through, as well as some earthy spicy hop bitterness, btu seems like more bitterness from the charred malts than hops, and a flash of alcohol warmth.

Mouth is very thick chewy full body, a bit creamy, decent fluffy carb in the middle, a touch of warming booze late.

Overall nto bad, coffee gets a little too strong in the middle it's less coffee as it is more straight up coffee grinds, a bit too acrid and roasty, so if they dialed back that a bit it would be a very nice base beer, but the lack of pretty much any barrel character is very disappointing on top of all that.

Lacking in upfront coffee and almost entirely devoid of any barrel character aside from a vague woodiness. Excessively ashy and burnt/char without much else to offer. Thoroughly mediocre. Decent feel and carbonation.

Great carbonation medium mouthfeel coffee is not a stringent and flavor the whiskey is mild

A: The beer is essentially jet black in color—only slight traces of dark red are visible near the edge of the glass when the beer is held up to the light. It poured with a quarter finger high dense tan head that died down but consistently left a thin layer of bubbles covering the surface and a collar around the edge of the glass.
S: Moderate aromas of cold brew coffee and dark, roasted coffee beans are present in the nose.
T: The taste follows the smell, but the coffee flavors are even more pronounced and contribute a moderate amount of bitterness along with hints of roast.
M: It feels medium- to full-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of visible carbonation.
O: This stout is a real coffee bomb and would make for a great breakfast beer. The only drawback is that the flavors from the whiskey barrel aging are muted at best. Nonetheless, this is a great beer for coffee lovers.

Serving type: bottle

 

22 oz. bottle

Pours black with a frothy light brown foam head. Smells like chocolate fudge, fresh roasted coffee, caramel, toasted bready malts, graham cracker, some dark molasses, charred brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, some whiskey, dark dried fruits, spice, oak, with floral earthy herbal grassy pine. Tastes like char, ash, baking chocolate, dark roast coffee, dark cherry, dried fruits, caramel, toast, dark molasses, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, some whiskey, spice, oak, with floral earthy herbal grassy pine. Feels medium-light bodied, creamy with moderate carbonation. Overall a nice whiskey barrel-aged imperial coffee stout.

 

Bought a bottle at the Beer Shop in East Longmeadow, MA. The beer pours with a black appearance with a large, bubbly, brown head that dissipates quickly. Aromas are a little faint, but do include a nice, burnt coffee smell. Flavors have a coffee cream taste mixed with some alcohol hints. Could definitely taste a very nice, roasted coffee flavor brewed into the drink. The mouthfeel is creamy and helps bring out the flavors. Overall, not too bad with a good coffee taste and mouthfeel.