Darkstar November
Bottle Logic Brewing

500ml bottle courtesy of @Beersnake (received in the Barleywine/Stout BIF #2)
Poured into a Baerlic Belgian-style tulip

2023 vintage

P black w/ a tiny foamy tan cap; no noticeable lacing
N med-bold to bold nose of barrel, choc, plum and other dark fruit; inviting for sure
T huge profile of chocolate, jammy dark fruit, dark sugars/molasses, vanilla, and barrel; zesty rye notes throughout; light med warming finish; outstanding
Mf med to med-full bodied; smooth; soft-med carb
O an exceptional BA imperial stout; so happy to have finally been able to try it; a big thanks again, 'Snake!

Review date: 03.15.25
Bottle date: 2023

This is the 2020 release and Batch 007 of the "Stasis Project." This seems to have gone through some evolution but still the molasses and bourbon barrel aging (not Buffalo Trace). Also I don't see why this is not an American Imperial, but maybe that was added in later years.

Pours a dark brown, near black with a lack of foam in the chalice. Appealing boozy smell. Mouthfeel is unctuous with plenty of spritz still dissolved. This does seem like the most alcohol tasting beer I can remember, at 14.76 percent. The flavor is all heat and darkness and sugar. Quite interesting and smooth, but certainly sugary beyond any expectation in a beer. Helps it last, I guess. I don't notice any rye flavor or very much bitterness, but it's a big sweet stout without any silly flavoring. From the 500 ml bottle purchased at O'shea Brewing.

 

 

a beer ive been chasing for some time, and its always the most unexpected when these things actually do finally appear, this one out of the blue for me yesterday, and it was way cool to get to drink this as part of a fun holiday celebration with the boys, never saw it coming, beer people are always so generous, one of the things i love about the community, sharing is awesome, and i am grateful for this experience. 2021 edition, id be curious to try it fresher, but this has aged well, the faintest oldness in the nose i suppose, but its not really there in the flavor at all, and this is mellow and complex, hides its alcohol pretty well, and overall is real complex and worthy of the hype, awesome this finally came to be for me! quite viscous but not quite black, still in that deepest brown range in the light, a little bit of head on it, high shine, leggy, almost greasy looking, but maintains a least a little carbonation the whole time. this is brewed with rye and molasses, and i can smell and taste a decent bit of both, i think these types of big stouts can really benefit from grains other than barley, and the higher rye in this is evident and awesome, lightly peppery in the nose, more deeply earthy and grounding in the flavor, faintly nutty perhaps. there is aromatic nuance of high end sipping chocolate, breakfast bread, real good bourbon, fresh vanilla bean, and smoke, while in the taste its a bit more almond and amaretto character, molasses straight up, maple and brown sugar, and quite a lot of bitterness, like they dont let this get too sweet, or rather its both sweet and bitter, but the molasses is a cool touch and its not fermented out enough to be lost. pretty heavy oak, enhancing bourbon character, more vanilla for sure here, the alcohol that does come out as it warms enhances the spicy part of the rye on the swallow, some barrel char lingering, licorice maybe, black pepper, subtle allspice, melting chocolate, almost gooey, but enough bitterness as well. glorious mix of flavors and progression as the temperature comes up, strong but not distracting, really complex and layered as a base stout, but the barrel treatment is adult, and this ends up being just wonderful. thankful for the experience, this was a bucket list beer for me! hope to try it fresh at some point too!

 

Thought I had had this one before. Maybe I had and didn’t rate it. Glad I had it tonight. 2022 vintage. Dark color, heavy brown head and lacing. Strong scents of bourbon, molasses, and rye with a dark roasted malt base. Taste is sweet and roasty with notes of rye, molasses, dark fruit, and an assertive bourbon barrel presence. Slightly thick, medium bodied, and the boozy barrel buzz isn’t as strong as I thought it would be. Maybe a bit too syrupy, but pretty good.

Sampling a 2023 bottle poured into my snifter at cellar temperature. The beer pours a very dark black color and is fairly thick in appearance out of the bottle.
Dark tan head foams up about 1 cm in my glass and fades to a very thin edge layer fairly soon after the pour. Beer looks like an imperial stout in the glass.
Aroma on this big beer is dark fudge and some brown sugar mixing with quite a bit of bourbon. No hop presence and the booziness is hidden on the nose also.
First sip reveals a fairly thick body and sticky texture. This beer feels like a big boozy one. Carbonation is fine and fairly mild, but the beer does coat my palate on each sip.
Flavor is similar to the nose, brown sugar and molasses mixes with dark cacao chocolate and a good dose of bourbon. Here there is some bitey booze on the finish and just a little warmth also. I do get some dark fruit on the burps of this beer, raisin shows up there.
No hop character on flavor.
This is quite the big imperial stout and I am feeling it well before my glass empties. Very glad to have tried this one!

 

 

Forget about the adjuncts, this is Bottle Logic at its strongest -- a wonderful blending of complex bourbon barrel character, fudge, vanilla, and lightly spicy flavors, thick velvety mouthfeel, and not too much sweetness.

90/100

 

 

 

 

 

Pours jet black. Aroma is sweet with a well balance of molasses, bourbon and dark chocolate. Taste is quite complex with tons of flavor. Dominate flavor is molasses with significant presence of spicy rye, dark chocolate, brown sugar, vanilla and some dark fruitiness. Full bodied as you'd expect. Incredible RIS.

2023 vintage

This is one of those awkward beers that floats in and out of the BA top 250 but I picked up for the tick anyways. Bottle Logic Stouts have been impressing me recently as well so I figured this one was worth a shot. Let’s pop it open and find out if it’s any good

Pours completely pitch black with 2 fingers of dreamy dark tan head that fades to a thin cap and leaves decent lacing

The molasses is very forward in the nose, odd since I was expecting the rye to dominate but I can’t complain. I’m picking up on aromas of blackstrap molasses, chocolate fudge, sweet whiskey, vanilla bean, rye bread, earthy cinnamon, light raisin, and a touch of tonka bean

It’s more balanced in taste but the molasses is still super loud. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting toasted oak, sweet whiskey, rye spice, molasses, brown sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla bean, and light rasin. The swallow brings notes of blackstrap molasses, brown sugar, rye bread, maple syrup, vanilla bean, cocoa powder, tobacco, sweet whiskey, and raisin

A medium body pairs with gentle carbonation, resulting in a slick beer. Finishes mostly dry and drinks significantly below its abv

This is yet another great one from Bottle Logic. I’m not sure if it’s top 250 material, but still damn good

 

12/24/23 bottle @ home