Devil's Abyss: Bourbon Raspberry
Jagged Mountain Craft Brewery

this is a cool series of beers here, these variants of this enormous stout, and it was a treat to get to drink a number of them in the same session. this one is done in bourbon barrels with raspberries, and i love the addition of the sweet and tangy red fruit into something so big and dark, its a cool touch and it really does add a lot here. the thing is, at this strength, this almost has to be sweet, and it is, diabetic even before the fruit, just way too much to be drinkable in any real amount at all, and the booziness is like a novelty, its strong for the sake of it, why not a more traditional mash, come in just north of 10% abv, and have a drier beer with equal complexity? for me, its distracting and with the sugar, makes this a taster and done type of thing. the raspberry is really strong in here which is kind of neat, a little candy-like, but good with the dark grain, a chocolate covered vibe. some vanilla and corn sweetness from the whiskey too, and not enough barrel char and grain roast to balance it, it really takes over the beer. i wish it wasnt so sweet because i think the flavors work really well together, but right now its like drinking molasses or something. still, this is unique and was one of the better variants of it. a little scaling back and refinement, and this is wonderful stout!