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Transient Artisan Ales

A - Pours pitch black with a a razor thin tan head. Decent amount of oily lacing.

S - Aroma is dark chocolate, molasses, oak and bourbon.

T - The taste is heavy dark chocolate, black coffee, vanilla, light hazelnut, oak and a big wash of bourbon.

M - Medium body with medium/low carbonation. Creamy mouthfeel with a bone dry finish.

O - Solid. Barrel notes are still pretty aggressive even with minimal alcohol heat.

Received in bif 17 from @ovaltine

Brewers notes: Aged in Elijah Craig 18 year, BLiS maple syrup bourbon and Blanton's bourbon barrels with toasted macadamia nuts, vanilla beans, and maple syrup

Chilled 500ml bottle, Black syrup poured into a snifter, intense dark brown one finger foam layer quickly fades to a ring

Aroma is bourbon, maple

Taste is sweet bourbon, maple, oak, hint of vanilla

Low sudsing , no heat

Good beer

Pours pure black with a head that is almost as dark as the body of the beer - and a head that disappears faster than I can pour with an aggressive pour. I have never seen that before with any beer I’ve poured. And I’ve poured a LOT of beers.

The nose features lots of milk chocolate, vanilla, and boozy barrel aromas courtesy of the Elijah Craig, Blis Maple, and Blantons barrels, plus a bit of oak. Very nice.

The macadamia nuts make an appearance on the taste, with a nutty flavor that accompanies the oak notes mid-palate, but the stars of this beer as expected are the milk chocolate and vanilla flavors up front and the bourbon barrels at the back of the palate that linger as a nice warming note.

The mouthfeel is creamy and decadent, maybe just a bit softer than expected for a 16.5% ABV beer. Another big bruiser of a stout from Transient that’s done really well, IMHO.

I can't find the bottling date but less than 2 years old I believe. Consumed 5/11/23.

The nose is amazing on this. There's tons of barrel notes which I love. One thing that Transient does very well that I appreciate is that they keep the sweetness of their BA stouts down to a reasonable level. For a pastry stout, this hits the right mark for me. As for the adjuncts, I get the vanilla. I am not sure I taste macadamia nuts. There's perhaps a hint of maple syrup sweetness here, but I wouldn't know it if I wasn't reading the bottle label. Overall this is a very nice collaboration between the two breweries. I'd buy again if released.

Slow viscous pouring beer, black as night and head non existent after it settles. Something that seems common in barrel adjuncters.

The nose is big on chocolate reminds me of a mocha, a big hit of barrel in the form of some nice heat and char. Less so but there; some sweetness and an almost peanut butter like smell.

Taste follows suit mocha like chocolate vibes, huge barrel presence. The back end and aftertaste is where I pick up other notes. Subtle maple note and the same peanut butter like nose I noticed. It is subtle but there, I’m guessing it’s the macadamia coming out in its own way.

Viscous beer, coffee like bitterness, again huge barrel and some heat both on the tongue and sinus canal going down. The carb is just right for a beer like this, enough to know it’s carbonated but still super smooth.