Grounded
Hamburg Brewing Company

Draft at the brewery. Near black pour, small ring of head. Chocolate aroma, hints of booze. Taste is on the sweet side, molasses, more of the booze,. Seems thin. Not much heat, despite the 10% ABV

Pours a cloudy deep brown. Not much foam. Rich chocolate aroma. Deep cocoa body. Smoky bitter finish. Smooth and satisfying. A great stout.

 

Got this in Buffalo back in the summer of 2016

From a 750 into a snifter

APPEARANCE: A clear brown pour yields a 2+ finger, medium looking, creamy, light tan head with good retention. Transparent brown body with lower levels of carbonation. Head slowly fades to a full wisp and leaves some lacing as the glass empties. Color is definitely too light for the style.

SMELL: Bourbon, vanilla, cream notes, milk chocolate and some butterscotch on the nose. Alright, but not overly forthcoming.

TASTE: Bourbon, some slight tart cherry flavor, some vanilla and milk chocolate up front. Wood at the swallow with a medium but lingering finish of bourbon, oak, vanilla, milk chocolate and some butterscotch sweetness. A touch of tart cherry as well, which is odd.

PALATE: Thinner body and a bit more carbonation than most in the style. A bit lighter on the palate, creamy enough, goes down fine and finishes somewhat drier than most in the style. No real heat.

OVERALL: Okay, but this one is definitely much lighter in the look and feel than I’d like and the tart cherry quality is a little odd. Not sure if that’s a rough sign of things to come. In any case, this is decent enough, but not something I’d run to again. In a overly saturated market for bourbon barrel aged imperial stouts, this one barely passes the test.

 

S: rich coffee and dark Belgian chocolate aromas joined by some intermediate grains and base malt scents along with a hint of cinnamon, traces of vanilla and a touch of dark dried fruit. The bourbon is medium low and the hop aromas are low.

L: It pours bright, deep dark brown with streams of slowly rising bubbles refreshing a persistent mousse-like 3" tan cap. The cap produces light lace and swirling the glass reveals traces of legs.

T: It is a very creamy chocolate coffee bourbon palate with a hint of vanilla, toffee, raisins and dates and some mild biscuit in the background. A moderate initial sweetness dries gently on the finish. The malt is medium high, the alcohol is moderate and the bourbon character is medium to medium low. There are no harsh roast or burnt flavors. Grounded is well balanced between the coffee, chocolate, and bourbon flavors. The hops provide just enough bitterness to balance.

F: Grounded has a very creamy texture which gives its medium to medium full body a perception of a little more heft. The carbonation is medium and very fine and soft.

O:This is a very delightful and seductive beer.

 

 

This was a disappointment. I won't say "huge" disappointment because I didn't really have any expectactions, but I always expect tasty deliciousness from a bourbon-barrel aged imperial stout. Grounded didn't pass muster.

As a previous reviewer said, this beer tastes like a boilermaker- it literally reminds me of the "ghetto" barrel-aged beers I make at home by pouring some cheap bourbon in my stout.

The barrel and the beer are not well integrated. All I get is a sharp, slightly metallic and a tad sour feel, but no sweetness or chocolate-y goodness or any of those things that usually come with a well-made BA stout.

Also, this was a gusher. Overcarbonated, it ended up all over the kitchen counter. I drain-poured about half of the beer and used the rest for cooking.

 

 

 

Growler procured from One Stop Brew Shop in Rochester, NY.

This pours the predictable black, you can't really expect much else from this style, can you? It's got a small head, and not much in the way of lacing.

Smells like nicely charred oak, bitter black malt, vanilla, slight bourbon, dark chocolate.

If this were a bit thicker, it would be top level. That aside, the barrel character here is really nice, charred oak, vanilla, and nicely integrated bourbon- the beer doesn't feel "hot" really at all to me, which is nice. There's still a nice base beer underneath, with roasty malt, a bit of bitterness that may be from hops or may be from the roast, hard to tell. There's a bit of rich dark chocolate too. This all comes together really nicely for me.

This is really, really drinkable for the style, with a medium bodied feel to it, a nice grainy creaminess, and a normal level of carbonation for the style, lower, not distracting, but substantial enough.

One of the better BA stouts I've had from NY state. I'm happy this was made in Western NY!

Thanks Jeremy for grabbing a bottle of this. Gave it a vigorous pour in glass and beer produced a beautiful cascade. Full head that had decent retention and excellent lacing. Aroma had plenty of malt; barrel and coffee. Taste featured all above but had a delicious accent that seemed to come from the roast of beans or grain. Body was medium (as advertised) which seemed a bit thin but still worked very well with the beer. Overall delicious very drinkable BBIS

 

 

This is a very good try. The bourbon is too fresh. It tastes like a boilermaker. It would be better with some age on it. Mouthfeel is a little thin. The nose is very inviting with nice coffee and dark chocolate.

Not overly boozy or bourbon influenced. I have had this both on tap at brewery and in bottle & enjoyed it more on tap. This will only get better in the cellar. Nice mocha coffee, light toffee, more chocolate on backend.