Black Beacon Sound
Black Shirt Brewing Co.

a red rye stout aged in laws whiskey barrels, done with toast, a really neat little bottle shop, super friendly, always a great place to shop. its a neat idea, but after some cellar time, im not sure its really quite evolved into what i was hoping for. its not much of a stout for one, more reddish in color and no sign of roasted barley in the flavor, body sure, but that alone doesnt make a mahogany colored beer without a ton of grain depth a stout, at least not for me. it does have a nice tall tan head from the bottle, creamy and pretty well lasting, some perhaps unintentional bottle conditioning seems to have taken place, and while this still is quite sweet, the texture is nice. the flavor is interesting, but not like i had hoped for, its sweet, slightly oxidized, curiously a little tangy, and very alcoholic, drinks more like an english barleywine steeped in nondescript whiskey, any quality or uniqueness laws has established in their products cant really be appreciated here, at least at this point. its super boozy for its listed strength, and perhaps has taken on some additional alcohol over time here. i like the flavors, lots of caramel, a little chocolate, even a raisin sort of fruitiness, almost like a milky way ice cream bar, but i am disappointed to not be able to pick up much rye, which suggests it was fairly conservative in here to begin with, not as robust and earthy and grounding and balancing as it should be, and it almost seems missing in the flavor mix, i am surprised its presented so boldly on the label as its such a minimal contributor it seems. lots of sugar to this, but lots of flavor too, and when i get past it and the hot alcohol, i quite like the flavor, but overall this is a bit if a fire breather and not exactly as advertised. if you like whiskey and dont need much roasted character to your stout, you will love this one, for me it left a little something to be desired. plenty of oak though, and neat for a brewery to still find ways to make red beer unique, although i think they have since changed course and become a saison/farmhouse brewery, but i could be wrong...