Unrepentant Transgression - Bourbon Barrel-Aged
Angry Chair Brewing

Look - black and thick syrupy with slight rimming but nice lacing
Smell and taste - cinnamonon chocolate caramel barrel slight nut
Feel - full body light carb
Overall - really nice balanace, sweet

 

Pure dessert. Cinnamon & fudge on the nose. Palate brings out Christmas cookie vibes, with still-potent vanilla, cinnamon, and huge fudgy barrel. Finishes smooth and only mildly boozy. Only thing I wasn’t getting was walnuts.

The pour is pitch black, almost oily, but contrastingly watery at the same time--not as thick as you'd expect, partly because it seems the carbonation is not present. However, the bubbly does begin to surface lightly and weakly, but not because of any density, it just seems less carbonated than other AC brews, as the short mocha foam that builds settles quickly to a thin collar.

This version has a nice roast to it, more like a dark mocha coffee than an overly charred malt character. It develops notes of sweet brown sugar and candied walnut with hints of cinnamon and bruleed oatmeal. The barrel adds a touch of dark fruit, but its presence is very mild. As it warms it becomes more chocolatey, like a dark liqueur with an almost hazelnut vibe, finally settling on brownie batter.

The slick, light body has a light, fine bubbly carbonation with a wet swallow that goes down quick, but a little sticky on the lips.

This is fantastic for a pastry stout, but the Cognac version blew me so much further away than this older bourbon variant--future Angry Chair set the bar quite high for this vintage experience!