Berkshire Bourbon Shabadoo
Berkshire Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poured on-tap and served in a tumbler pint, the beer is a muddled, ruby-copper coloring that gets to be a very dark brown in the depths. Rich, foamy, dense, cream colored head. The beer has a subtle, blended nose of wood, vanilla, and a touch of sour character. Flavors are much more sour than the nose lets on, with a tart, sour cherry overtone that drowns out subtle hints of caramel and chocolate. Light bodied, with a smoothness to it that makes it easy to drink. The beer leaves a thick, clingy lacing along the glass as you drink. Tangy and slightly hopped aftertaste, with a quick, slick finish that has a touch of drying bitterness at the end. Interesting.

 

 

 

 

 

On-tap at Sierra Grille.

Pours dark reddish-brown, beige head starts at about a finger eventually reducing to a spotty cap, leaves spots of lacing.

Caramel with very noticeable bourbon and oak in the nose, good but kinda weak strength.

Taste is a bourbon and oak blast, with tart dark fruit notes...cherries maybe. The base beer is barely noticeable, notes of caramel and roasted malt. Reminds me of red wine a little bit. Wasn't a huge fan at first, but I started to like the odd combo of tart/dark/bourbon flavors.

Kinda odd mouthfeel...oily, high carbonation, stings the tongue, feels a little abrasive at times. Huge bourbon presence makes it feel alot boozier than it is.

I enjoyed this more than the base beer. The barrel flavor on this one is huge but seems to meld a bit after some time. Could use some tweaking I think but this was an interesting beer.

On-tap 7/29/2011 at Doherty’s East Ave Irish Pub in Pawtucket, RI, served in a US tumbler pint glass.

A: The beer is a dark reddish brown color, with a short off-white head that fades quickly and leaves a thin lace on the glass.

S: The aroma is faint but contains bourbon, caramelized malts, some dark fruit and a light touch of hops.

T: The taste starts with a burst of bourbon flavor followed by some sweet flavors of caramel and dark fruit. The hops presence is mild and the malt character is hearty but not too heavy creating a good balance. The after-taste is slightly sweet.

M: Smooth and a little crisp, medium body, medium carbonation, finish is slightly sticky.

O: Tasty, goes down easily, not too filling, decent kick, good representation of style, barrel aged seemed a bit thinner than the regular version but overall it’s worth drinking for a while if you’re in the mood for something a bit different.

L: Pours a nice brown/amber color with a medium sized and thick off-white colored head that laces the glass all the way down.
S: Smells of sweet roasted and toasted malts, a nice mix of caramel and bourbon to finish it off.
T: Tastes of sweet malts, caramelized malts, some nice sweetness that goes right into a decent bourbon flavor. Good tasting brew.
M: Rich, smooth, warming, perfect amount of carbonation, fresh, medium bodied.
D: Overall a pretty drinkable beer for a bourbon aged beer. Good feel, good taste and aroma, a good beer overall and a nice way to spice up a Black and Tan.

Tap at Armsby Abbey.

Light creamy head 1/2 finger, fades slowly, over reddish marroon color lots of lacing.

Nose light toasty malts, a definite bourbon kick, a very slight wild like funk sour that sometimes comes from bourbon barrels, some crystal malts and caramel, nutty malts.

Taste starts with sweet malts, reddish malts, light bourbon and barrel again adding that weird sour like wild taste, also not overpowering but just seems to destroy the initial flavor off the beer. Light nutty malts, hint of cinnamon, light ester. Finishes sweet and slightly sticky, lingering med dark malts and light sour bourbon.

Mouth is med bodied, dec carb.

Overall meh, the bourbon seems to ruin the beer, subtle flavors in a bourbon sour barrel doesn't seem to work.

Served in a standard pint at Track 84. Pours a translucent reddish-brown with a quarter inch cream-colored head that disperses into a creamy skim. Nose suggests some sort of barrel-aging, but bourbon is not readily prevalent. I primarily get dark malts and booze. Taste expresses wood, sour notes and dark malts. The flavors are tart, but not overpoweringly so. Mouthfeel is light-medium with a carbonation that falls just short of lively. There also a but of astringency in the mix. All and all - meh. Barrel aging really doesn't do much for this beer, and I actually prefer standard Shabadoo to this version.