Uncle Jacob's Stout
Avery Brewing Company

12 oz bottled Feb 19 2016 - Batch no. 5 - 17.1% abv

Pours pitch black with a tan light brown foam head. Smells really strong and powerful with notes of licorice, black grapes, cocoa, bakers chocolate, coffee, toasty graham cracker, umami slightly meaty dark roasted malts, some soy sauce, caramel swirl, burnt brown sugar, toffee, blackstrap molasses, smoky char, dark fruits, plum, raisin, creamy vanilla, oaky bourbon barrel, baking spices, leather, tobacco, and earthy grassy herbal piney hops. Tastes super dense and thick, rich and syrupy with dark chocolate liqueur, espresso coffee, licorice, cocoa, sweet soy sauce, umami slightly meaty dark roasted malts, toasty graham cracker, caramel swirl, burnt brown sugar, mapley dark toffee, blackstrap molasses, smoky char, dark fruits, black grape, plum, raisin, black cherry, ash, creamy vanilla, oaky bourbon barrel, baking spice, toasted nuts, dusty leather, tobacco leaf, and earthy grassy herbal piney hops. Feels thick, oily, slick, medium plus bodied, a bit viscous with smooth moderate carbonation. Overall a really great bourbon barrel aged imperial stout even with 10 years of age on it.

For a 7 year old bottle, which I normally don’t review, this is amazing.
Poured stout black (if not darker) with a medium brown head that reached about a centimeter in height. (For a 15.9 % ABV stout, any head is impressive)
The taste is undoubtedly different an in my opinion not better or worse, just different. The bourbon has diminished a little but let the other flavors come out- the well roasted malts with an edge from either hops (which I doubt for a 7 year old beer) or the aforementioned roasted malts.
Coffee and chocolate, vanilla and the proverbial dark fruits, under scored with worn leather and all wrapped up in bourbon.
The feel might also have been a little thinner than when fresh, but it was no less a good sipping beer.
OA, these might be retired now. That would be a shame.

Black color. Nice, beige head. Bourbon, roasted malt, vanilla, and a hint of coffee in the aroma. Perfectly balanced taste which follows the aroma. Sweet, but not too sweet . Boozy but not too boozy. Gently bite of roasted bitterness at the end.

This beer is amazing! Taste like sipping’ straight bourbon. Alcohol is not hidden at all, touch of sweetness but very delicious! Medium body. Overall well done!

Bottled on 2/24/17, batch no. 6

Appearance: Pours onyx colored with a thin being lid that fades to a ringlet and archipelago; leggy, with squiggles of lacing

Smell: Rich chocolate and dark fruit aromatics with the Bourbon and oak tones complementing

Taste: The reverse of the aromatics appears on the palate, with the Bourbon and oak striking the tone, at the outset; underneath, I find chocolate, raisin, fig and vanilla; rather boozy, after the swallow, though the flavors merge nicely

Mouthfeel: Full bodied with low carbonation; considerable warmth in the gullet

Overall: The last of the five aged Avery barrel series; four of the five were great and aged like I hoped they would; happy to wrap it up with Uncle Jacob's as I have been wanting to try this for a while

No need to add to the apt descriptions in the reviews already offered below except to warmly affirm them. This was the second bottle of this exquisite now-six-years-old brew I’ve had the fortune of running across, and I’d gladly pay somewhat dearly for another bottle of it if I found one. Just as this one, I’d set it aside and sip it on another special occasion like this one — Valentine’s Day dinner of blue cheese marinated-and-topped venison chops grilled to medium rare, shared in front of a wood-burning fireplace. “There might be a little dust on the bottle, but don’t let it fool you about what’s inside … .”

Feb 6, 2018 vintage, drank on 2/25/23.
Nice 1/2" mocha foam cap, boozy aroma of bourbon on the none. Taste is instantly strong bourbon, robust stout notes, medium sweetness and a dry finish. We'll kept in the cellar fridge, no oxidation. Delicious sipper!

I love the Avery barrel aged series, This one is sublime. 4.5 balanced across the board. With so many barrel aged adjunct stouts, it's mice to drink a straight bourbon barrel aged stout! I ran across some old vintage on clearance for $8.99. Bought all of them.

 

 

Had this beer poured from tap at our local World of Beer.

Poured into a small snifter. This was labeled batch 7 of this beer. Boozy smell and taste. Heavy dark chocolate taste, mellows to German chocolate cake with warming. The taste and feel of fine bourbon. Some expresso and dark berry flavors also appear with warming. Smooth and warming feel. Definitely a sipper and a nice treat.

 

 

Bottled 2/24/17. Served at 50 degrees with an aggressive pour into a tulip. Appearance is an opaque, dark dark brown with three quarters of an inch of short-lived beige colored head that leaves behind a thin ring and decent legs. Aroma is wonderful and bursts from the glass. Sweet molasses, alcohol and chocolate. Really enticing on the nose.

Initial taste is very bourbon forward with chocolate mid-palate and some char notes on the very long finish. There's some alcohol burn, and even after aging for almost five years, this one is still plenty hot. Smooth, with a nice medium body.

Overall, this is a good sipper that checks lots of boxes, but the heat / alcohol burn is enough to keep it short of being "great" in my opinion.

Poured from the 12 oz bottle into the test glass. Bottled on 6/27/2013.
A - Slate black, Lively carbonation assembles into a lovely tan cap. and lasting rings of lacing.
S - Dark fruit, 90% cocoa, char, anise to start. Then notes of burnt brown sugar, molasses, vanilla, and exquisite cigar wrap tobacco. Blackberry reduction.
T - Bourbon notes forward, with all the usual elements, add a minty thread. Dark Chocolate, anise, the char is so good. Less of the dark fruits on the palate, more of the barrel elements, with that boozy thread raising all boats here.
M - Surprisingly this is medium in body, Slick on the palate, sweet start, with alcohol exhale with every sip. Linger is dark cocoa, and char Outstanding
O- What a big delightful treat. The body is solid without being a palate wrecker. Certainly shows off the heat even after these many years. The char is super fun, barrel treatment is assertive, and delightful.

Bottle dated 2/24/17 into pint glass. Pours jet black with a thin tan head. Good lacing. Initial impression is molasses, bourbon, coffee, and caramel. Mouthfeel is thick and extremely smooth. Finish wraps up with a slight hops bitterness. Overall, a wonderful sipper for a cold rainy November night. Highly recommended!

 

Silky bourbon madness, but in a good way.