Barrel Aged Deep Orbit Vega
Other Half Brewing - Center Street

500 mL bottle. Black, inky, no head. Smells of bourbon, chocolate, lots of alcohol. Like, LOTS of alcohol. Tastes of alcohol, bourbon, chocolate, more bourbon. Heavy, very boozy, pretty sweet. It's all booze. Can't say it's bad, but it's all booze.

Black color. Thin, white head. Sweet aroma of milk chocolate, cookies, vanilla, and bourbon. Sweet taste with notes of toasted malt and bourbon. Warming alcohol in the aftertaste.

 

On draft at Lures Bar & Grille. This is obviously gimmicky (given the cookies and abv) but pulls it off fairly well. It's boozy of course, but not overly and it's not cloying either. Rich chocolate, bourbon, vanilla, dark roasted malts - overall pretty solid and tasty.

 

L: Pours a very thick black color with almost no head, doesn't seem to be a ton of carbonation in this beer and no lacing.

S: Very strong bourbon and vanilla hit the nose first, followed by some sweeter chocolate and cream and some brown sugar.

T: Lots of bourbon and vanilla, smooth sweet chocolate, some cream and brown sugar.

F: Large slick oily feel and body.

O: The bourbon really socks you in the face on this one, decent but still which the barrel was a more balanced with other aspects of the beer.

04/28/23 bottle @ home

Had on tap at Burnish Beer’s “After Chaos”tap takeover today.
Big, rich and silky sipper. No head or lacing, but not unexpected with 16% abv. HST… booze was nicely hidden. Read complaints of very high booziness in other reviews, but this batch delivered a beautiful mouthfeel and taste without any alcohol issues.
Nose and taste had deeply deep sweet/semi-sweet chocolate with vanilla . Bourbon noticeable but not overpowering.
Enjoyed the 10 oz pour over about40-45 minutes and touches of wood; dried dark fruit emerged as beer warmed.
Very glad to have had a chance to enjoy this and to have had it on tap.

Fourth Other Half Stout. First three have been excellent. Let’s go 4/4. 500ML bottle with a classy black & gold label.

The pour is black with as much life as a Twins September rally (that would be none). Smells like the bourbon. A lot of bourbon.

Deep Orbit Vega – Barrel Aged is a sweet-smelling barrel aged fart. Booze begins oozing out of the sweat on my forehead immediately. Booze. Through bourbon. Lots of bourbon. Beneath the cacophony of barrel there are helpings of chocolate (a rather insane amount), what I wouldn’t know is cream filling, & a lot of malty sweetness. Big. Filling. Taking this by myself may lower my productivity tomorrow.

Did I mention the booze? Big chocolate saves this from being a straight bourbon bomb & elevates this into pretty damn good territory.

 

Pours very dark and thick, nominal head. Boozy bourbon barrel mixes with milk chocolate aromas. Flavor is milk chocolate, bourbon barrel, significantly boozy, and I do get a sense of the cookies as well. Upon warming up, I also get chocolate covered cherries and light strawberry notes. Very tasty. Light carbonation, chewy texture. Overall a very tasty BBA pastry stout, very enjoyable in its simplicity.

8/17/22
500 ml bottle, a few months old.
4.25 rating

 

 

 

Poured from the bottle into a teku glass.

Oily and sheened brown midnight in color coming out of the bottle, filling slightly sludge like in the glass. No head created with barely a hint of cocoa brown bubbles and a slightly edged bubbled collar. Leggy a bit also.

Aroma is almost exclusively boozed heat. Faint hints of dark chocolate, and the booze angle gets almost into cheap fruited brandy more than hinting stout or barrel aging which seems non existent.

Palate is passable, but doesn't offer much. Slick and syrupy runny body, with booze hints of chocolate. Faint touches of vanilla with mild sweetness and lots of alcohol fussel flavors. Not much sense of barrel roundness and character. Some of the heat gets into an almost cherry quality which at least adds some dimension to the beer.

Not much sense of the added ingredients or barrel quality, and a bit of over-heated booze doesn't get this into memorable territory.

Poured at fridge temp. Pours jet black with literally no head. Almost completely still. Nose is chocolate, graham crackers, bourbon, vanilla, a bit of coffee, and a bit of brown sugar.

The taste is...wow! The 16% ABV really kicks in here! Boozy, chocolate, bourbon, marshmallows, vanilla, Oreo cookies, raisins, cherries, brown sugar, toffee, and fresh chocolate cake right out of the oven. The lack of carbonation really adds to the intensity. This is sweet, but not too sweet at all. Amazing.

Mouthfeel is super thick and creamy. This is right where it should be. Overall, a wonderful BA imperial stout.

 

 

Pours as pitch black as spent motor oil, with a small brown head that dissipated quickly and left minimal spotty lacing. Smells of bourbon up front, followed by dark chocolate, Oreo’s, brownie batter, molasses, bakers chocolate, cocoa powder, faint piney notes and Carvel hot fudge that cooled off in the container. It’s aroma is just as much desert as it is BA stout.

Tastes sweet and chocolate-y with the dark chocolate, molasses, hot fudge, brownie batter, Oreo’s and bourbon mixing with cookie dough, vanilla, brown sugar, cola, burnt coffee, oaky accents, caramel, fudge and chocolate flavored heavy cream. Luckily this doesn’t jump the shark and get too sweet, but the complex chocolate flavors take it right to the line before the earthy and barrel influences reel it back in. It feels creamy and smooth, hiding the 16% ABV masterfully.