Dino S'mores - Barrel-Aged
Off Color Brewing

Poured dark coffee into my snifter and appeared black in the glass. No head to speak of, just a light brown ring that left no lacing.
The aroma was roasted malts and bourbon. No s’mores detected.
The taste followed, I think this one has the barrel aging overwhelming the adjuncts, so it’s very tasty as a stout but not s’mores tasting.
Feel was nicely viscous, pleasant sipping beer.
OA, need to try a non BA version to see what they intended I guess.

Appearance: Pours espresso colored with a modest head that fades but leaves some squiggly lacing

Smell: Hints of Bourbon and roast complement the lactose and chocolate notes

Taste: Chocolate, vanilla and graham cracker notes on the front end, with hints of cherry and pecan; oaky Bourbon elements emerge, in the middle, but don't overwhelm; the finish leans toward sweetness, with a marshmallow aspect

Mouthfeel: Full bodied with low to moderate carbonation; on the thinner side for a BA stout

Overall: Amping up the body (maybe a slightly higher ABV would do the trick) would make this one a lot better; decent enough, as is, but a bit below the top echelon

 

 

To be truthful, I'd have to drink this BA side-by-side with the Dino original to know how much, if at all, the barrel improves the recipe. But, I can barely drink one Dino... so I will never know.

Certainly, the BA offers up more vanilla and, by simple calculation at 11 ABV, the BA rendition offers up more well-concealed booze. But, I really doubt I could tell the difference beyond that in a blind tasting.

What keeps Dino BA from being a great AIS? It Looks solid, but only a bit above the style's average. And in the mouth, Dino BA is not a viscous sensation like the greats.

With 70 uniques from Off Color, they also are my most drunk brewer by multiples of repeats. That is because Off Color is a master at Belgian and wild styles... particularly unusual given its youth of under 10 years. For Off Color to even have a good AIS recipe is even more unusual. But then to take it into the tricky barrel-age realm requires, perhaps, some reckless self-confidence about knowing more about bacteria than Mother Nature. But, Off Color seems to have pulled it off here. Bravo.

 

It's the best version of the Dino S'mores series aside from the new Double Barrel. It's a must try if you like s'mores. It smells, tastes, feels like a s'more treat!

This review is for the 2020 Wild Turkey 101 Batch.

It pours like cola, which is about what I expected from previous years of BA Dino S'mores. The initial smell burns as if you dropped a shot of whiskey into a stout. None of the adjuncts come through in the taste. The Wild Turkey barrels over power everything great about the base version. In other years the barrel has accented those flavors. It is a medium to light imperial stout, but the alcohol leaves a burn going down. I think I'll let my other bottles rest for at least a year to see if it mellows out.

Viscous oily black with no head. Smells of sweet vanilla and somewhat marshmallow, molasses, tons of dark chocolate, graham cracker, and bourbon, almost no wood. Taste has a touch more barrel, but really this is still driven by the base flavors from the orignal, bourbon just serves as an accent to the fudgy and sweet stout. Body is on the thinner side, hides booze well, more warm than boozy, sticky and sweeter. Better than the original by a tick

 

 

 

 

4/14/19 You can see how thin it is compared to other great stouts that I love. It’s almost porter thin.. I like the carbonation that sticks around and can feel it on my tongue. The barrel smell is faint and I don’t taste it very prominently either. It’s not as overly sweet as some other BA stouts and I like that part of it. Still, I am not loving this like I do their sours. What I do love is the new small bottle size. It’s the perfect amount of beer for the high abv stouts. I’m glad I bought this to try it, but if I could have tasted in on draft first, I probably would have passed on the $25 four pack. It’s just not unique enough and I prefer the thicker more barrel forward BA stouts

2/7/20 Cracked open another bottle and the aging hasn’t done much for the beer. I lowered my overall score and feel to 4.0 from 4.25. I get some Marshmallow and vanilla notes but nothing super exciting. I’m glad it’s not too sweet still. Good but not great. The coffee is the best variant by far. Otherwise stick to the spurs which are world class.

 

Thanks to bl00 for this one from NBS BIF #007. 12oz bottle poured into 10oz fluted tulip. Poured a solid black color, with no head, thus no retention or lacing, and low carbonation.

The aroma featured some roast upfront, with malt in the background. None of the olfactory components scream S'mores.

On the tongue, the roast was still dominant (and a wee bit harsh), but some chocolate, vanilla, and bourbon were noticeable.

The body was a bit on the thin side for a big stout, but did coat the tongue nicely.

Drinkability was fine, the harsh, bitey finish hurt in this aspect. Overall, a nice brew. I would have liked the chocolate and vanilla to have been a bit more prominent. Still, probably worth a shot if you see it.

12 oz bottle poured into Aslin anniversary goblet and allowed to warm considerably.

L: Jet black. Very little head and no retention at all, no lacing, etc.

S: Too much of the barrel early on, reduces as it warms, but problematic. Cocoa and marshmallow seem to lead the way otherwise.

T: Bourbon and barrel still a bit too much. Cocoa, marshmallow, roasted malts. It's pretty good, but not great.

F: Medium to full bodied, a bit of carbonation. Construction is good, balance decent.

O: Might need a long cellaring.

 

The bottle was a few years old (cellared in good conditions) and clearly didn't aged well.

 

 

 

 

 

3-21

A: Pours near black. Slight ring of tan foam that quickly dissipates.
S: Whiskey dominates the nose. Slight hint of chocolate.
T: Much more complex than the nose. Chocolate leads the way. Very little toasty notes. Some sweetness and grain cracker as it warms. The whiskey, which dominated the nose, is present in the background but doesn't dominate.
MF: a little on the flat side. Booze heat present but not boozy.
O: Very good beer. The taste is so much better than the nose. Just a notch below the top beers in this category.

 

 

2016 vintage.

Pours a thinnish dark brown almost black color. Almost no head is noted other than some fizzy foam on top of the beer that disappears quickly. Beer appears mostly still. Even for a BA beer it looks thin and rather on the flat side.

Smell is a nice bourbon-y wood-y aroma with some sweet lactose and chocolate notes. Smells like a boozy s'more.

Taste follows the nose with plenty of boozy bourbon up front. Hints of oak and vanilla come through along with a strong graham cracker flavor. Not a straight up marshmallow flavor, but you get a sweet lactose flavor that conveys the sweet marshmallow. Chocolate malts come through providing a nice smore like flavor.

Feel is definitely thin - . Mild carbonation. Smooth feel with a touch of heat.

Yes, its a bit thin, even for a BA beer, but if you can get past that, the beer is really well done and captures the smore flavors pretty well. The BA version is also quite a bit better than the non-BA version. Not saying its lining up worthy, but its a very good beer. Finally, no signs of infection in this one - it tasted great.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The aroma has promise. It does seem like it's going to be a boozy smore. But this is a thin, barrel-aged disappointment of a beer. The barrel aging did not integrate with the beer. It's boozy with a number of fruity off flavors as well. Skip this one.