Barrel Aged Goldmund
Solemn Oath Brewery

 

 

From a 12oz can dated 11/9/19

Fluffy, frothy mocha head, pitch black. Cinnamon vanilla and some chili coming through. Creamy lactose compliments dark chocolate and coffee. Smooth, if a big light. Soft and full, hint of booze. A solid Mexican style stout, one of my favorites

Received from @FBarber. Canned on 11/8/2019. Poured into a stemless snifter. It pours a dark walnut with cola hues and a large, foamy, medium-mocha head that dissipated slowly leaving a thin film of lacing inside the glass. The nose features a lot of freshly-brewed coffee and cream, along with dark chocolate, caramel, and just a whiff of bourbon. The taste opens with coffee and roasted malt. There are also notes of cola and dark fruit but I'm not tasting the chocolate that I smelled. The bourbon is very subtle; you can tell it's there but it's not distracting. There's just a hint of pepper and cinnamon. The mouth feel is somewhat thin for the style but the 10% ABV is very well hidden. Overall, a nicely-crafted American Imperial Stout.

 

Pours black with a dark tan head that fades pretty quickly, leading to a nose that’s heavy on the barrel and also features some stone fruit, dark chocolate, and char aromas.

The barrel isn’t as prominent on the taste, allowing the dark chocolate and char to feature, though there is an alcohol burn at the very end of the taste, which is nice.

The mouthfeel isn’t as substantial as you’d normally see in this style, though. If this had more body, it would approach world class, IMHO.

 

 

 

12oz can. Poured out an opaque, jet-black color with a small, brown head of bubbly foam. It smelled of bourbon, oak, vanilla and dark chocolate. Sweet boozy taste with bourbon, oak, chocolate, vanilla and coffee.

 

Had on tap at Beer Cellar. I like Solemn Oath's barrel aged program as everything barrel aged I've had from there has been really good. This one was good but I found it to be not as "thick" as I was expecting. And the taste didn't have any pronounced flavors. Now it was not a bad beer and maybe the bar I set for them is super high but this one was low on my list of barrel aged offerings from them.

 

 

 

 

This is a well made ba stout, with a chewy and thick malty body, appropriate bourbon booze, and spice textures from the cinnamon and peppers. My issue with the taste is the shellac of bourbon, lactose, cocoa, and malt that covers up the peppers, cinnamon, and vanilla a bit. All present, but not a balanced as I would have hoped. Smell is better in this regard, but again feel as though the bourbon is holding back the full potential there. Good beer, more excited for the non barrel aged version now.

what an epic beer to find itself in a can! super cool packaging choice for something like this, especially something that i imagine is better fresh, with the adjuncts and all, sometimes these things dont hold up so well together over time, even though its a barrel aged imperial stout at its base. i love it. vanilla, cinnamon, cocoa, chili pepper, and lactose all added to this one, but for me they are all in nice relative balance with each other, and its the stout and the bourbon that are the first and list things i taste each time i take a sip, its not overdone at all with any of these, yet they all play an integral role in the experience, to say they are perfectly dosed would not be a stretch at all. the vanilla might be the most forward of them, but its carried on a lot by the whiskey, which has strong vanilla notes of its own to contribute, wrapped up in oak, rich chocolate malt tones, and the cocoa, which works in seamlessly as well. i am surprised how well the chili works too, i am usually nervous about this as an ingredient, but it pairs up with the cinnamon and the char of the barrel on my palate beautifully, wrapped in a little booziness too, it kind of pops in and out, only temporarily interrupting the smooth and mellow trajectory of the exceptional stout that is the foundation for all of this. the lactose gives it some creamy body but it doesnt make it sugary, there enough balance from the roasted grain and the bitter cocoa there for it to not be out of proportion. overall an insane beer, incredibly good, for me up there with the best in the style, abraxas and such, dont let the little can fool you, this is for real!

edit: this faded pretty fast in the can, two months later after being in the fridge the whole time, its really tame and some of the ingredients are lost a little bit. much better when brand new!