Double Barrel: Apple Brandy & Rye
Stoneface Brewing Co.
- From:
- Stoneface Brewing Co.
- New Hampshire, United States
- Style:
- Russian Imperial Stout
- ABV:
- 10%
- Score:
- +7 ratings needed
- Avg:
- 4.24 | pDev: 4.72%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 2
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Jul 29, 2021
- Added:
- Feb 11, 2021
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 0
NO SCORE
-
-
A blend of our Russian Imperial Stout: Apple Brandy barrel-10 mo. + Rye Whiskey barrel-10 mo. + fresh RIS Sweet red apple peel, hint of vanilla; warming.
Recent ratings and reviews.
Reviewed by Bierman9 from New Hampshire
4.25/5 rDev +0.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.25/5 rDev +0.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
My second foray into a Stoneface barrel-aged RIS today.... Picked this up a couple of weeks ago at $15 for a 0.5l bottle...
The beer has now been snifterized.... Color? Has none - it's totally black! Can't see a lick through it, even with backlight. A hard-pour brought forth a rich, creamy, mocha head, though it ebbed down to a fine ring around the rim. Has some lacing, though it's light overall. The nose has some tartness right off, plus sweetness, as if it was a big slab of Apfelstrudel! Rather inviting, if I may say so... It is creamy and smooth, with a solid medium-plus body.
The flavor has more apple tartness, though it's not so much "in yo' face" as the aroma. Also has some cinnamon and caramel, plus a subtle hint of spicy rye. And, regarding the tart aspect, it never gets sour at all... it's a very pleasant tartness. A WWII re-enacting friend of mine whips up a boozy concoction for our barracks festivities called "Apple Pie", and this very much reminds me of that.... Cheers, Boz!
4.25/5 rDev -2.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
2259
Feb 23, 2021The beer has now been snifterized.... Color? Has none - it's totally black! Can't see a lick through it, even with backlight. A hard-pour brought forth a rich, creamy, mocha head, though it ebbed down to a fine ring around the rim. Has some lacing, though it's light overall. The nose has some tartness right off, plus sweetness, as if it was a big slab of Apfelstrudel! Rather inviting, if I may say so... It is creamy and smooth, with a solid medium-plus body.
The flavor has more apple tartness, though it's not so much "in yo' face" as the aroma. Also has some cinnamon and caramel, plus a subtle hint of spicy rye. And, regarding the tart aspect, it never gets sour at all... it's a very pleasant tartness. A WWII re-enacting friend of mine whips up a boozy concoction for our barracks festivities called "Apple Pie", and this very much reminds me of that.... Cheers, Boz!
4.25/5 rDev -2.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
2259
Reviewed by ichorNet from Massachusetts
4.48/5 rDev +5.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
4.48/5 rDev +5.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
I went to Stoneface almost specifically to get a bottle of this a couple days ago, so I'm hoping it lives up to my rather-lofty expectations. Kidding, kinda... these guys don't have to prove anything to me at this point, as they've traditionally been pretty damn good (and the food at their taproom is insanely-high-quality). So, this is a version of their RIS aged in both apple brandy and rye whiskey barrels with some fresh, non-barelled beer blended in. I'm going to trust that they did some intense QA with this and just let it speak for itself.
Pours a terrifying, utterly-light-devouring stout pour with an intensely-dark mocha head that builds up to about two fingers and retains at about a half-finger after five to ten minutes in my glass. Superb, consistent sheets of lacing as it does so, and pretty nice legs too if I swirl it around a bit. A very high-quality "scary stout" pour that gives me some confidence this will kick ass.
Some Untappd reviews sort of concerned me going in to this one, with a few saying that it's "missing something" or the apple brandy barrel character takes over. In all honesty, I expect anything aged in apple brandy barrels to be highly expressive of that character, almost to the extent that I go in understanding that the brewers/blenders involved want to push that because it's such a rare and unusual characteristic to have in a BA beer in the first place. It's definitely big in the nose, with warming apple pie-like notes including cinnamon and nutmeg-like earthy spice that melds pretty well with the implicit spice from the rye barrel. I think people are overthinking what's happening here or looking for something that they're unlikely to find... the balance should be the name of the game with this, and the fact that Stoneface blended in a portion of the original RIS speaks to that, as I mentioned before. Very nice deep cocoa and roast with hints of nuttiness, sweet baked apple, caramel, and molasses. Can't wait to see how it tastes!
This is freaking intense, and I guess I can sort of see why it's getting flak, but I don't agree with a lot of the takes I'm seeing. Strong red apple peel upfront with caramel, soft baking spice, baker's chocolate, cocoa powder, and a zip of tartness and bitterness in the finish. Smooth and semi-sweet with a soft tingle of acidity that doesn't quite hit "sour stout" levels but which I could definitely see the association with. That said, the powerful roast character and balancing, firm bitterness in the finish really halts any conception of tartness you could incidentally conjure here. Such an autumnal flavor going on here... I feel like picking another bottle of this up and saving it for some time in October 2021 would be a superb treat.
Feel is warming, semi-thick, and well-balanced with a massaging carbonation. I think this one drinks totally fine for what it is. I also really like that it isn't overly strong... 10% actually feels somewhat generous for it, honestly, as it doesn't drink much stronger than 9 or 9.5% ABV in my opinion. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I think this is a big success. It's a treat, for sure, though it's also something that seems worth aging for a bit to see if it integrates in any meaningful way.
Feb 16, 2021Pours a terrifying, utterly-light-devouring stout pour with an intensely-dark mocha head that builds up to about two fingers and retains at about a half-finger after five to ten minutes in my glass. Superb, consistent sheets of lacing as it does so, and pretty nice legs too if I swirl it around a bit. A very high-quality "scary stout" pour that gives me some confidence this will kick ass.
Some Untappd reviews sort of concerned me going in to this one, with a few saying that it's "missing something" or the apple brandy barrel character takes over. In all honesty, I expect anything aged in apple brandy barrels to be highly expressive of that character, almost to the extent that I go in understanding that the brewers/blenders involved want to push that because it's such a rare and unusual characteristic to have in a BA beer in the first place. It's definitely big in the nose, with warming apple pie-like notes including cinnamon and nutmeg-like earthy spice that melds pretty well with the implicit spice from the rye barrel. I think people are overthinking what's happening here or looking for something that they're unlikely to find... the balance should be the name of the game with this, and the fact that Stoneface blended in a portion of the original RIS speaks to that, as I mentioned before. Very nice deep cocoa and roast with hints of nuttiness, sweet baked apple, caramel, and molasses. Can't wait to see how it tastes!
This is freaking intense, and I guess I can sort of see why it's getting flak, but I don't agree with a lot of the takes I'm seeing. Strong red apple peel upfront with caramel, soft baking spice, baker's chocolate, cocoa powder, and a zip of tartness and bitterness in the finish. Smooth and semi-sweet with a soft tingle of acidity that doesn't quite hit "sour stout" levels but which I could definitely see the association with. That said, the powerful roast character and balancing, firm bitterness in the finish really halts any conception of tartness you could incidentally conjure here. Such an autumnal flavor going on here... I feel like picking another bottle of this up and saving it for some time in October 2021 would be a superb treat.
Feel is warming, semi-thick, and well-balanced with a massaging carbonation. I think this one drinks totally fine for what it is. I also really like that it isn't overly strong... 10% actually feels somewhat generous for it, honestly, as it doesn't drink much stronger than 9 or 9.5% ABV in my opinion. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I think this is a big success. It's a treat, for sure, though it's also something that seems worth aging for a bit to see if it integrates in any meaningful way.
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