Incantations (2022)
Burlington Beer Co.

2022 Vintage (obviously)

A - Dark brown pour with thin, dense toffee colored lacing and light carbonation.

S - Light whiskey and oak aroma with a small amount of sweet malt. Overall aroma is pretty weak.

T - Malt base is extremely light in the flavor department followed with oak, whiskey, some spicy rye, and light chocolate malt residue on the backside.

M - Medium body that's a little thin around the edges.

O - Not memorable but glad to have tried. Will look for a 2023 and give it a try.

Thick looking, rye in the stout and in the barrel. A good choice that I like. Dangerously drinkable, and not too woke pastry sweet. Recent bottle from the source.

Incantations (2022 Vintage) – from Burlington Beer. Acquired 06/11/23 from Spec’s #100 SAT, TX. $ 14.90 (Including tax)/500 mL bottle, $ 0.88/fl oz. Reviewed 25/11/23 (Review 3178). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Only date on bottle is “Vintage 2022” on one end of the label, but the opposite of end of the label has embossed “120722”. On room temperature shelf at the store, stored at 34 degrees at home. Served at 57.0 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 59.9 degrees F.
Appearance – 4.
First pour – Amber Brown (SRM 18), light barely penetrates.
Body – Black (SRM 40), opaque. Under direct light, same but looks slightly oily. When rear-lite, same with light penetration at the edges only, red amber.
Head: Average (Maximum 1.5 cm, aggressive center pour), brown sugar, high density and fizzy, dropping to a 0.15 cm crown and a thin partial cap.
Lacing – Poor - three prominences of extremely tiny bubbles.
Aroma – 4 – Weak whiskey and oak, chocolate. No hops, no yeast.
Flavor – 4.5 – Begins slightly sweet with chocolate and whiskey, some peppery background, becomes slightly bitter almost immediately. No yeast, no hops. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Moderate gastric warming.
Palate – 4 – Full; creamy; moderate carbonation. None of the oiliness noted in the appearance is present.
Final impression and summation: 4.25 Very good rye-based impy stout! Next time I’m in TX, I’ll look for more of this VT beer since it’s not available here in NW PA.

Nice pour, nothing special.

Some slight sweetness on the nose.

Very smooth, but not so complex.

Good beer. Not great. Happy to have tried, not sure I would buy again.

 

A 500ML rye stout aged in rye barrels. If I could convert my tongue from flesh to rye, I’d do it. Only my second brew from Burlington.

Black with minimal apparent bubbles even on a hard pour. The Nose is rich, sweet, with an undercurrent of spicy rye. Pull me under, rip tide.

Incantations…rye you know luv me? The rye here is wider than it is deep, softer than it is sharp, if you catch my drift. It’s up front but not dominant, nor is it taking a Bowie knife to my palate like I enjoy, but it’s still tasty. After the spiciness comes bourbon, low-slung booze, chocolate, & miles of rough road. Big but not filling. Heady but the mini-bomber is perfectly sized.

A very good rye stout that I’m happy to have tried.

 

Poured from a 750ml bottle into pint glass in December 2022. This is the 2022 release, and I drank this within 2 weeks 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 alcohol 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 whiskey 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 11.3% listed on the label. 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 whiskey, 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.