Blantons Barrel Aged Neckbeard Nectar (2020)
Transient Artisan Ales

 

500 ml bottle into a snifter. Had 11/26/21.

Pours near black and opaque, thick looking, with a brief flash of a head and a little slick, foamy lacing. Aromas of coffee, malt, oak, char, bourbon- more as warms, some chocolate, light leather, a little vanilla. Flavors of coffee, bourbon, malt, chocolate, oak, some vanilla. Smooth, a solid full body, appropriately carbonated.

Lots of excellent coffee in both the aroma and flavor, great barrels that have a solid presence. Many good aromas and flavors, but the coffee and barrels are fairly dominant. Pretty delicious.

 

Pours black with cola colors on the edges. The head is a sudsy, fizzy dark tan color and dissipates in seconds. The nose is led by really oaky barrel notes, and there’s also caramel and dark chocolate notes, and a bit of roasty coffee.

The taste is led by the caramel and dark chocolate flavors, and they’re accompanied by a roasty coffee flavor and balanced by the oaky bourbon flavor, which is quite a trick (the bourbon barrel providing balance instead of leading with a right uppercut to the chin). Truly delicious.

The mouthfeel is very full and on the creamy side, fitting a beer of this heft and gravitas. The Transient imperial stout game is stellar - what a pleasure this is to drink.

A - Pours pitch black with a thin tan head.

S - Aroma is dark chocolate, coffee and bourbon.

T - The taste is dark chocolate, coffee, caramel, vanilla, oak and nice bourbon heat.

M - Medium body with medium carbonation. Creamy mouthfeel with a soft dry finish.

O - This is really killer. Love the depth of flavor the Blanton’s barrels add to the base beer.

Darkness of the void black body, brown collar with lazy lacing. Expressive bourbon, caramel, medium roast coffee, semi-sweet chocolate with trace amounts of oak, earth and smoke supporting to make up the nose that has a lighter potency but is very pleasant. Taste is really nice in how the coffee and caramel bring out each other with the bourbon barrel having a rich and rustic depth to it, oak is more present than in nose, earth too. Chocolate is fudgy, a kiss of vanilla creme brulee and decent earth round out. Feel is molded most by the barrel then coffee, and finally malt/barley combo, but not are particularly heavy handed. Somewhat regal and refined, very drinkable, but gets light through the percolation and the finish is not uniform with the booze. Not as complex or deep as last year's blanton's variant but I hope they keep using the barrels in the future, because these are good beers that I will seek out every year

2020 release consumed 2/7/21

Being a fan of Blanton, I’m excited to finally try this variant. It pours thick with just a bit of lacing that stays. It’s a really pretty dark stout. On the nose I get some booze, but very little coffee. On the pallet there’s a nice coffee bitterness, but still very little coffee forwardness. Still, it’s not a bad thing as it adds a nice I love the old school non overt sweet pastry stouts. I wish I had bought more of these!