Imperial Dream Eater
Burlington Beer Co.

 

 

2022 edition with 11.5% ABV, on tap at the brewery's gastropub in Burlington.

Appearance. Essentially black body with ruby colored edges, topped by a thin head.

This maple(?) bourbon barrel aged stout displays wondrous notes of maple, wood, vanilla, bourbon and coffee. Slightly boozy and smoky.

Poured from a 750ml bottle into pint glass in June 2023. This is the 2022 release, and I drank this within 2 months of purchase at the distributor.

Appearance: Very dark black with almost no head. The head was dark tan, with fine bubbles, and there was very little lacing on the glass. No head remained after a minute.

Smell: Strong aroma of coffee and bourbon from the barrel aging that filled the air as soon as the bottle was opened. There is some additional sweetness like chocolate, caramel, and vanilla. Not much hop aroma.

Taste: There is an interesting combination of flavors. There are strong bourbon and smoky rousted stout malt flavors. Also, some coffee, chocolate, and a little caramel flavor. There is some bitterness from hops. There is a strong alcohol presence that matches 11.5% listed on the label (this % on the label does not match the amount listed by others for this beer). There is a strong oak and whiskey aftertaste, that is enjoyable.

Mouth-feel: This is a big beer, as expected, and feels thick in the mouth. An extremely smooth and creamy body.

This is a good barrel aged Imperial Stout, and it has a variety of flavors that adds a nice complexity to the beer. The bourbon, coffee, chocolate, and roasted malt flavors nicely contrast and balance each other. It is very smooth and enjoyable to drink. I like this, and would definitely buy this again.

 

 

 

Can to tulip.
Can dated 10/16/19, but hey with an ABV of 10%, I'm not worried, are you?
The appearance, well, the usual lack of head in Burlington Beer Company stouts/imperial stouts. Hmmmmmm....but a dark brown to black color in my glass. No lace.
The aroma had some creamy chocolate cookie layers up front with some cinnamon crunchy cereal whiffs, vanilla sweet toned coffee beans with some super dark chocolate tones further underneath.
The flavor leaned towards the sweet side mostly but brought in a subtle balance of roasty coffee, sweet powdery milk chocolate, subtle vanilla beans and a semi-sticky chocolatey fudgey-ness. Mild semi-sticky aftertaste of milk chocolate, cereal crunchy cinnamon tones and some vanilla sweetness.
The mouthfeel was about medium bodied with some sipping quality about it. Good carbonation and a stealthy quaint sticky feel running along my tongue. Finishes semi-sticky rolling through some sweet cookie/fudgy cocoa malts.
Overall, I'd say a pretty nicely done imperial stout done up in that Burlington Beer Company fashion I tend to expect.

 

 

On tap at the brewery