35th Anniversary Expedition Stout Reserve - Bourbon Barrel Aged
Bell's Brewery - Eccentric Café & General Store

Craig, thanks for the chance to try this gem. I'm getting raisin and molasses notes throughout that I haven't had in many stouts and I'm loving it. And holy hell the barrel notes spot-on, warming and smooth. Slightly tangy Swiss chocolate, dark cocoa, slight coffee, vanilla, and more round things out. So damn good.

Thanksgiving 2024 pour. About 4 years on this. Carbonation and head have dissipated not surprisingly after 4 years, but the flavors are still outstanding and available in spades. Quaffs reveal an excellent balance starting with cocoa and roasted malts with a delicious dichotomy between bitter and sweet, dark chocolate like. Things transition to dark fruits galore and light molasses. Zero booziness and much too drinkable at this ABV. Expedition's bigger brother still delivering. Excellent

From the tap

This pours a jet black with just the thinnest of cocoa colored lacing. The familiar notes of Expedition hit the nose at first, with black licorice and a dark chocolate pinch m. The sip follows with more of the same, smoothed and mellowed but without a dominant barrel presence.

 

Thanks to Whyteboar for this one!

Poured from a 12oz bottle into a New Belgium Globe Glass

The beer pours jet black with no highlights at all. An aggressive pour yields about two fingers worth of dark tan head that recedes slowly leaving virtually no lacing

The aroma is big and roasty with lots of chocolate, coffee, molasses, vanilla, licorice, a bit of soy sauce, and a huge barrel/boozy character.

Like the nose the flavor is big and roasty, with chocolate (both bitter dark chocolate and sweet milk chocolate), coffee, molasses, vanilla, soy sauce, and a big barrel character. The barrel character adds a whole other level of complexity to an already phenomenal beer. Full bodied with a chewy mouthfeel, slightly slick on the tongue.

Overall, I don't know if I like the Barrel Aged version or the standard version better, both are quite good and I would be happy with either one!

 

Almost 2-year-old bottle poured into a tulip glass.

Look is jet black and thick with a beautiful dark brown on the edges. Creamy, thick hot chocolate head, initially, which dissipates quickly. Some stickiness down the sides of the glass but no real lacing. Serious alcohol legs. Couple swishes of the glass brings back an amazing creamy cap.

Similar to regular Expedition, smell is dark chocolate, grainy cereal, hot chocolate espresso, molasses, fig, plum, licorice, and dark wood -- big, and bold and earthy. Here there’s also a massive boozy element and a heavy dose of soy sauce. On the nose it works beautifully.

Taste is deep, dark, bitter, toasty, roasty chocolate and molasses, with a touch of peat and licorice. So rich. Again, very true to the original. Accordingly, there are some wonderful dark fruits in the background, but here the raisin bread notes are overwhelming. It still isn't an overly-sweet dessert beer, by any means. Just beautifully deep and dark and drinkable, but highly sophisticated. Again, totally in keeping with the original. But on the tongue the soy sauce starts to get a little overbearing and brings an additional sweetness that isn’t needed. 0.25 mark down for that.

Mouthfeel is thick and chewy and extremely creamy. The residue of the bitter chocolate with a little bitter hops is wonderful. Chewy and coating without being sticky or overly thick.

Not sure this is an improvement over the original or the BA version, but it’s right there. Soy sauce element is a negative, but the texture is near perfect.

 

 

 

Outstanding. World class without a doubt.