Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Sap Stout
14th Star Brewing Co.

 

 

as a maple lover, everything about this beer makes me aroused. its brewed with maple sap instead of water, has maple syrup added, and is aged in maple bourbon barrels, not sure how you work any more maple or maple character into a beer, but its also really well refined, an excellent base stout, and not forced or gimmicky or over the top, its just wonderful beer, a highlight from my recent trip back east to be sure, and hands down the best beer i have had from these guys to date. its matte near black in the glass from the bottle under a short white head. the aroma is strong of maple syrup, but the beer isnt thick and textured like maple syrup, its remarkable how they do that. notes of tobacco leaf, cocoa, and good coffee are here as well, but for me, its all about the maple. i get the syrup and the minerals and sweetness of the sap, i also get the whiskey pushing through, enhancing not dominating, and some oak and barrel char that work nicely with the dark malts in here. this is shockingly well balanced for what it is, i mean, its sweet but i could easily drink the whole bottle of this myself, good grain depth really helps with that, all the roast and the coffee character too. the maple is natural and high end to me, very much a product of vermont, dark amber and dripping from this beer, but it still tastes like beer too. amazingly smooth and even light to me going down. i think the alcohol is very well hidden, and i am impressed anew each sip i take. an exquisite beer here really, not to be missed!

Poured into a snifter, the appearance was a pure dark brown very close to black. Just a wispy eggshell white foamy head slid off to a thin sheet to sustain for a little bit then slide into a subtle middle cap in the center. Not much lace.
The aroma had an authentic 'maple sap' quality about it as it portrays a wonderful smoke/ashy sweet maple quality then rolling through coffee beans, dark chocolate, dark toast and some bourbon woody character.
The flavor leaned towards a subtle sweetness of the blend of bourbon barrels, the sweet side of the dark chocolate, the sweet side of the coffee beans (maybe espresso, hmmmm, not so sure). Quick aftertaste, semi-dry woody to maple sweet and smoky.
The mouthfeel was about medium bodied with a fair sipping quality about it. A good dryness ran about while instigating some stickiness to cling to my tongue, borderline cloying, but not really. Good carbonation. Finishes with the smoky sweet semi-ashy yet dry maple sap note.
Overall, quite good despite me not sitting on this longer til this Autumn when I prefer these big stouts. I probably should've sat on this longer, yet still it's very good for the style.