Birthday Bomb!
Prairie Artisan Ales

Birthday Bomb!Birthday Bomb!
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From:
Prairie Artisan Ales
 
Oklahoma, United States
Style:
American Imperial Stout
Ranked #334
ABV:
13%
Score:
97
Ranked #741
Avg:
4.36 | pDev: 6.88%
Reviews:
283
Ratings:
1,343
Status:
Active
Rated:
Dec 02, 2023
Added:
Mar 23, 2016
Wants:
  55
Gots:
  351
Prairie is pleased to announce and celebrate the 3rd birthday of our most popular, well known, and voted most likely to succeed beer we produce, Prairie Bomb! Join our celebration for the beer that changed it all. We did everything but hang up streamers.

What’s the buzz about anyway? Bomb! was a mad creation in response to the many complicated brews that required an interpreter to approach. The path to creating this ultimate beer that never planned on taking itself seriously led to many unexpected revelations. It contained almost every ingredient imaginable. It was difficult. It was delicious. It was a free spirit, complex but lending itself to endless possibilities. It became a much loved member of the family, and a representation of our brewing style and how it has evolved. In its original form Bomb! comes close to being a heady, strong dessert in itself. This led to the conclusion that we had exponential possibilities with flavor profiles and aging processes.

Because of this, Birthday Bomb! was conceived to celebrate three wonderful years of experimentation and fun loving flavors like the current incarnation with caramel sauce. Made in house by our brewers with nothing but black gloves and a propane tank. The rest is the complex mix of hops and malt with a healthy dose of the signature coffee and spices.
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Ratings by ManapuaMan:
Photo of ManapuaMan
Reviewed by ManapuaMan from Massachusetts

4.36/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Roasty, spicy, sweet. The Bomb! line and the variants are such treats. Expensive? Yes. Peerless? No quite. Worth it? Absolutely. Prairie is able to blend the chili peppers along with (for thos version) and laundry list of flavors into a beer that's smooth, delicious and end-to-end cohesive.

Pours an unmistakable black out of the bottle with a faint nutmeg-colored head that fades quickly. Aroma is expresso beans, toasted malt, chocolate, spices. Can't even say for sure what kind of spices - it's a mean mix. Coffee, roasted malt, bitter chocolate, fudge and chili pepper come through in a complex cascade of flavors. A little sweet, a little bitter and perfectly spicy. Nice lingering heat from the alcohol and peppers. Beautiful beer.
Jul 02, 2017
More User Ratings:
Photo of JacobusFavier23
Reviewed by JacobusFavier23 from Texas

3.82/5  rDev -12.4%
look: 3.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
L-Pours a jet black beer with slight carbonation with no visible head (maybe a lacy thin bubble lining).
S-Coffee, coco/chocolate, vanilla bean, toffee, cola, cherry, apricot, maybe some maple syrup, chili pepper some black pepper and a finish of Imperial Soy Sauce/Chili pepper/hot sauce at the end..
T- Follows the nose and is very, VERY sweet. I get notes of coffee, dark chocolate, vanilla bean, cola, toffee, cherry, apricot and other stone fruit. Slight imperial soy sauce notes with umami notes as well. Bitter bite at the end.

Note: This beer is so damn sweet. It's an absolute dessert/sipper beer. My teeth are tingling drinking this thing.

F-Thicc (yes two c's), slight carbonation.
O-Not in any way shape or form my thing, but a solid dessert imperial stout that has a lot of fun and interesting flavor profiles. Sweet, and absolute thick sipper. About as thick as birthday cake. Incredibly sweet, but decently rewarding. Again, not my thing, way too sweet for me, but if very sweet imperial stouts are your thing, I'd recommend.
Dec 02, 2023
Photo of zonker17
Reviewed by zonker17 from Texas

4.24/5  rDev -2.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.25
2016 bottle consumed Mar 2023. Thick black with minimal carbonation, minimal beige head with low retention. Nose a bit muted, mineral. Taste definitely getting chocolate, some spice hidden in there. Finish comes through the same as drinking black coffee.
Apr 03, 2023
 
Rated: 4.09 by TrojanRB from Texas

May 18, 2022
 
Rated: 4.49 by Salinesnake from Louisiana

May 11, 2022
 
Rated: 4.23 by WillieThreebiers from Connecticut

Apr 29, 2022
 
Rated: 4.09 by bongobeer from Alabama

Apr 13, 2022
 
Rated: 4.1 by einman from Minnesota

Dec 19, 2021
 
Rated: 4 by TMoney2591 from Illinois

Nov 30, 2021
 
Rated: 4.04 by hopley from Massachusetts

Oct 25, 2021
 
Rated: 4.33 by Tiernan from Texas

Jul 06, 2021
 
Rated: 4.16 by sbuck from New Mexico

May 17, 2021
 
Rated: 4.5 by Joshlex

Apr 23, 2021
 
Rated: 4.27 by kramacam from Kentucky

Dec 28, 2020
 
Rated: 4.51 by BrewsOverHoes from Georgia

Dec 05, 2020
 
Rated: 4.5 by MonkeyPilates from Minnesota

Nov 07, 2020
Photo of ZenAgnostic
Reviewed by ZenAgnostic from Texas

4/5  rDev -8.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
12 oz bottle poured into a Duvel tulip. Picked up from the liquor store for about $8. No discernable date, but 12181 printed on base of neck.

Appearance - Pours relatively small 1 finger or less brown head with low retention and decent stick and lacing. Absolutely pitch black body that even backlit by a phone flashlight doesn't even produce even the slightest bit of transparency even around the edges. Sort of intimidating. Points for the impressive body, minus points for the unimpressive head. 4

Smell - Can't tell exactly what I'm smelling but it's like an undecipherable combination of soy sauce, coffee, and alcohol. The components don't really seem to stand apart from eachother, they just blend together. A slight swirl generates something that might be vanilla. Has a strong solvent smell. Maybe the high alcohol content, seeing as it's 13% ABV. Seems to be mellowing out and softening as it warms and breathes a bit. 4

Taste - Strong black coffee. Tobacco. Earthy. Slightly rounded out by the cocao and vanilla, but then resharpened by some red pepper spice warmth. Not really my cup of tea but I can appreciate it for what it is. 4

Mouthfeel - Bold, astringent, and a bit on the sharp side, with the extra high alcohol and chili peppers. This isn't easy drinking. It will wake up your mouth and mind. 4

Overall - Pretty good across the board, but it's just a little too lopsided and unbalanced. Though if you're looking for something with that sort of kick, then this will do the trick. I know giving 4's across the board can seem like lazy rating, but I genuinely have to give each aspect that grade. 4
Nov 06, 2020
Photo of Scotchboy
Reviewed by Scotchboy from Idaho

4.38/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
2019 vintage pours pitch black into a mug; lead aromas of peppery coffee and subtle sweetness; the palate is exceptionally full of vanilla, caramel, coffee/espresso, chocolate/cocoa nibs, toffee, with the smallest hint of spice (very complementary). Very smooth full body with invisible alcohol at over one year old in the bottle; well-rounded and delicious. Overall every adjunct is well-integrated and this isn’t cloying at all. Loved this one, as I do most Prairie stouts.
Oct 31, 2020
 
Rated: 4.4 by Abe_Froman from Massachusetts

Oct 24, 2020
 
Rated: 4.33 by desint from Belgium

Oct 16, 2020
Birthday Bomb! from Prairie Artisan Ales
Beer rating: 97 out of 100 with 1343 ratings