Barrel-Aged Birthday Bomb!
Prairie Artisan Ales

As usual Prairie Artisian rarely disappoints...

...and again, it does not...Great looking, practically black beer with a smell that that had all the scents of the cocoa nibs, the booze, and the vanilla - it was all there and it was delicious. The mouthfeel is full-bodied and smooth, but the taste was definitely booze forward out of the bottle, but it tamped down slightly as it warmed. Overall, a very good beer and one that was worthy to down during my birthday month...

A - Pours pitch black with a thin fizzy tan head. Light amount of oily lacing.

S - Aroma is dark chocolate, black coffee and bourbon.

T - The taste is dark chocolate, black coffee, vanilla, caramel, light chilis, bourbon heat and oak.

M - Medium body with medium carbonation. Slick mouthfeel with a drying finish.

O - Prairie really does BA stout’s exceptionally well and this is no different.

pours a solid, dark near black with very little head. nose; heavy cocoa, raisin, cream, & vanilla. taste; dark caramel malt, slight char, cocoa, light coffee, vanilla, oak, toffee, butter, milk/lactose, chocolate, & hops. heavy mouthfeel & carbonation. there's some very light chili pepper in here that is noticeable, but it's mild in the mix. insanely well saddled at 14%. what's there to say?, everything with a prairie ales label on it completely slaps. top shelf.

 

 

 

 

Black body with fast fading brown foam.
Marked scent of chocolate, coffee grounds, toffee, hint of dehydrated plum and vanilla, chilli, bourbon.
Robust toasted notes and a marked bitterness emerge on the palate. Chocolate whiskey and chilli aftertaste.
Medium and smooth body with fine and slightly pungent carbonation.

Purchased at Dominion Wine & Beer. 14.7% ABV. Bottled date 06.05.2019. Poured into a small-stemmed tulip.

A very complex beer. Almost two different beers from start to finish. I am sure everyone will have a different take. A beer that does an excellent job balancing all the flavors, anyone of which could have run this beer off the rails. Still too sweet to top my list, but the brewers did a wonderful job crafting this recipe. A sipper of a beer! 4.25

A – Pours an opaque black with a mocha brown half-finger rocky head that dissipated quickly to a ring around the glass. This beer poured thinner than expected. No viscosity. 3.75

S – Aromas of vanilla, sweetness, barrel-oak and alcohol, and jalapeno pepper with roasted malt hiding behind these more aggressive smells. The jalapenos are more evident in this beer than any beer I have had that was not clearly labeled as a hot pepper beer. I can even feel the pepper aroma in my throat. 4.25

T – Sweet, vanilla, whiskey, roasted mildly bitter maltiness. The overt pepperiness in the aroma is not present on the palate. The jalapeno pepper is only faintly found at the back of the throat and this relocation only appeared near the end of the 12 oz. 4.5

MF – Heavy bodied with a finish that is well balanced by the alcohol and pepperiness. Coats the palate. Warming, smooth, silky. The finish does not reflect the sweet start. 4.5

 

 

12 oz. bottle. Black body with no head. Smells of caramel, bourbon, coffee, and light pepper. Tastes of spicy, chocolate, coffee, bourbon, and then caramel. Spice kicks up and cuts the sugar a little bit. Not a ton of barrel character, but that's ok. Lots of the base Bomb flavor comes through. Heavy and slow to drink, both by ABV and flavor profile. It's good.

 

 

 

2021-01-09
12oz bottle served in a snulip. Dated 05.31.2019. Absolutely no recollection of where I got this.

Pours black with almost no head. Waiting for a little bit causes a tiny brown ring to appear, suggesting there is actually some carbonation, although it's hard to see it. Smell is dominated by peppers and a little chocolate. Booze, vanilla, wood.

Taste is chocolate cake, vanilla frosting, moderate peppers, vanilla, still tons of booze. Very sweet.

Mouthfeel is thick and syrupy. Overall, it's pretty good, but not in love with it.

 

12 oz bottle, unknown vintage, poured into a wine glass (hey, I'm at a rental house, don't judge!):
L - black, with little to no head
S - bourbon, vanilla and coffee, not a lot of aroma going on
T - wonderful stout flavor, with chili heat on the finish, cocoa/toffee flavor comes out as it warms
F - thick mouthfeel with almost no carbonation, the mark of a great stout
O - very good beers, there is a lot going on here and not all of it leaps out, but the blend of flavors is exquisite

Drinking this on my forty second birthday. Bought it last summer in advance of the occasion. Prairie obviously makes great stouts and this one is no different. You pick up all the ingredients but none overwhelm. For a 14.7abv it sure doesn’t taste overly boozy.