Barrel Aged Double Shot Double Black
Bent Paddle Brewing Co.

 

 

 

Pours out of the can a midnight black with very little head. Smells of coffee, bourbon, and faint vanilla. Tastes like rich black coffee and bourbon, less of the vanilla notes but also a little smokey. Super rich mouthfeel that you would hope for from this kind a brew. I loved it, very well done.

VictorySaber sent me two of these for NBW BIF #16 or 15. The 2019 bomber didn’t survive the trip but the 2022 can did.
The pour was oiled stout black with a mocha colored 1” dense head. Lacing was sparse, but that’s expected from these levels of ABV.
I held onto this for quite some time hoping that my sense of smell would come back, but alas, it hasn’t. I thought I could smell some coffee and vanilla but that might have been all in my head.
The taste vanilla leads the way followed quickly by bourbon and coffee and really well roasted malts. I’d guess some people get chocolate from the combination but I get the flavors separately. Interesting!
The feel is lighter than I expected for such a densely flavored beer, not heavy but just viscous enough to make you want to sip it slowly and savor the taste.
Excellent beer.

Pours quite black with a wonderful three finger head. Aroma is chocolate, roasted malt and coffee. Taste is complex, with coffee, chocolate and roasted malt separately hitting the tongue. Body is on the high side of moderate, with low carbonation but sweet. Wonderful.

750ml enjoyed straight out tha bot'le. Sacrilege, I know. 2019 version

Smell is almost all vanilla sweetness, it's just too much. Tastes like a coffee beer with a drop-shot of bourbon and a drop-shot of vanilla extract. Not much carbonation left, but it's not flat. Very chocolate-y and smooth feeling

Tastes better as it warms and the bourbon comes out. But it's still too sweet

This is the 2019 vintage, enjoyed in a Steel Toe snifter. Looks very fine, dark mahogany, with a khaki 1 finger head, good lacing. Nose is lots of cocoa notes, a little roasty coffee, molasses, serious vanilla, some bourbon. I wouldn’t say it is crazy complex or layered, but it is very inviting, like you’re about to be in to something tasty. Taste is even better than the nose: mouthful is really creamy and thick and full without being heavy, and there are waves of both rich espresso (but I wish this was more pronounced) and different kinds of sugar: brown, carmelized, toffee, marshmallow. In the middle, more vanilla, and then on the back end, there’s some gooey dark chocolate. A little smoke and barrel. Yum.

 

From a 12oz can:

Appearance: Black, good sized head.

Smell: strong coffee, chocolate, vanilla, wood, nice blend of aromas.

Taste: Weird, a tale of two beers in one glass. Starts out really nice with dark chocolate bitterness, nice mix of coffee and chocolate/vanilla/barrel flavors. Creamy feel. Then it takes a sudden left turn with a nasty metal/plasticy/bad bourbon hit. It corrects itself somewhat, the weird plastic note fades to almost nothingness and the dark chocolate comes back as I finish the glass.

Overall: Well, that was a different experience! I don't know I've ever had a beer show so many different faces within a single glass. Starts like your typical coffee-forward big stout, hard left into the ditch of terrible, small barrel/plastic whiskey crap, then saves face somewhat at the end. I suppose it was mostly good? I don't know that I've ever had a beer where the first taste was yum! Then second taste was gack! First time for everything I suppose!

2016 notes:
Bent Paddle Brewing Company Barrel Aged Double Shot Double Black Black Ale Aged in Oak Barrels, with Vanilla Beans and Coffee Added. Bent Paddle Brewing Company, Duluth, Minnesota. 11.2 % ABV.

This is one I despaired of ever finding a bottle , for it is so high on the wish list of every truck follower out there. I don't haunt the stores that often, and miss out on special releases that disappear soon after they are shelved. I got a taste of it when we had it on tap back in March for a Bent Paddle event. Bryon said he had a gift for me, and I was so excited, only to find, alas, it was "only" a bottle of Hop Forest Double IPA. Sigh.

A new batch was just released, and again I didn't find myself at the right store at the right time, and worried about being shut out again. Then chance put me at a little ol' liquor store that is not often frequented by the beer geek crowd, and lo and behold, there they were. Got two at $23 a piece. Drank one last night. Gonna save the other for a snowy night in the far off future. Here are the notes on that bottle.

Deep, dark blackness, full ebony hue, with a thick and lasting dark brown cocoa-tinged head above. Looks fantastic, very inviting.

In the nose: all the cocoa, all the richness, all the roast, and all the coffee. All that, all there in the nose. Big, deep, dark, rich, and boozy. Blackstrap molasses, anise, and here comes the vanilla. Out of nowhere and plop! into the senses, here's the vanilla! Big time vanilla, big time cocoa.

In the mouth: Whoa. Thickness, richness, utter vanilla-ishness. Is this beer's popularity part and parcel of the current vogue for vanilla beers? Or, is it....boom! the bourbon, that's there, too, but, also, fully flanked by the vociferousness of the vanilla. Damn, that's all over the place! It's well-matched by the bourbon and the coffee. This one has it all. Decadent, indulgent, delicious. Save this one for special occasions, or whenever you want to give yourself a treat. It's the real deal.

Here's the official gobbledygook off of the label: "This robust version of our black ale features a smooth, chocolatey, semi-roasted malt profile that sweetly balances out the doubled strength. Notes of oak and whiskey from an extended aging period in Bourbon barrels creates a welcoming warmth. This iteration of our Double Black Ale features a "Double Shot" of both Cold-Press coffee and whole bean Madagascar Vanilla for an extra level of flavor complexity and is the perfect companion for a late night viewing of the Northern Lights ...or can accompany any natural wonder you may come across."

 

Rich espresso flavor up front which surprised me for a coffee beer. Reason I chose not to hold this beer longer was because of coffee component, but this barrel-aged beer has held up well after 4-5 years. Fresh vanilla bean behind the espresso followed up with oak in the background. Very nice!

2019 Vintage, consumed on 12-28-2021

This beer pours pitch black. There's a good 2 finger tan head that forms in this beer as I pour. The bubbles are pretty small, for what it's worth. The head retention is quite good for this ABV, and there's some lacing on the glass as the head dissipates.
The nose has a nice coffee aroma. I also get some vanilla, as well as notes from the barrel used to age it.
The flavor starts out coffee, and it's a nice smooth coffee flavor. This beer is aged, but there's no green pepper flavor that happens when some coffee beers age. The vanilla hits in the middle. The flavor profile is rounded out by the flavors that the barrels put into this beer. Some caramel and toffee notes.
The body is pretty good. Not too thick and chewy. There's a bit of heat from the ABV that hits on the back. It's quite warming feeling, but not overpowering.
This is solid, and I can't wait to try the 2020 vintage.

 

 

Not a subtle beer at all. Smell is heavy oak, vanilla, coffee. Taste matches nose on the front end as oak, vanilla and coffee heavily present. Finish leaves it obvious this is BBA, and the coffee lingers. Dry.

11.2 ABV but you'd be hard pressed to know it it's so smooth.

Body is its only glaring weakness IMO. A bit thin there.

Overall an excellent beer.