Bourbon Barrel Dirty Frank: Proving Grounds Coffee
River's Edge Brewing Co

22 ounce bottle into signature tulip glass, bottled on 3/4/2019. Pours opaque dark brown/black color with a 2 finger fairly dense and rocky khaki head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice dense foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a good amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, dark roasted coffee, caramel, brown sugar, roasted nuts, vanilla, toffee, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, spicy rye, biscuit, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of licorice, molasses, raisin, prune, fig, date, smoke, charcoal, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oak earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready/rye malt, molasses, coffee, bourbon barrels, light-moderate earthy hops, and light fruity yeast notes; with great strength. Taste of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, dark roasted coffee, caramel, brown sugar, roasted nuts, vanilla, toffee, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, spicy rye, biscuit, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of licorice, molasses, raisin, prune, fig, date, smoke, charcoal, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oak earthiness.Light-moderate herbal, grassy, peppery, roast, char bitterness; and rye, bourbon, oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, dark roasted coffee, caramel, brown sugar, roasted nuts, vanilla, toffee, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, spicy rye, biscuit, dark bread/crust, licorice, molasses, dark fruit, smoke, charcoal, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oak earthiness on the finish for a while. Fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready/rye malt, molasses, coffee, bourbon barrels, light-moderate earthy hops, and light fruity yeast flavors; with a great roast/hop bitter/sweet, and bourbon/oak/rye spiciness balance; with no cloying, acrid, astringent flavors after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering hop/char bitterness, rye/bourbon/oak spiciness, and carbonation. Medium-high carbonation and medium-plus body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/bready, and fairly sticky/chalky/tannic balanced mouthfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol or barrel booze for 6.7%. Overall this is a fantastic export stout! All around outstanding complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready/rye malt, molasses, coffee, bourbon barrels, light-moderate earthy hops, and light fruity yeast flavors; very smooth and easy to drink with the mellowly bitter/spicy/tannic/drying finish. Nicely soft and not overly bitter/charred. Quite over carbonated, but this was pretty much just as good as the base BBA version. A bit more barrel presence than I remember. Balanced rich malts, fruity/nutty coffee complexity, and barrel presence/integration; with solid earthy hop presence, and restrained fruity yeast. Mildly sweet with lingering dryness. A highly enjoyable offering, and spot on English style example as expected.