Dark Charge - Bourbon Barrel-Aged - Coffee & Vanilla
Braxton Brewing Company - Braxton Covington

 

Lighter black pour with a full tan head. Great coffee depth leads the nose, with bourbon and oak backing before bright vanilla finishes. Taste is much the same, but the coffee depth is cut into, bourbon is omnipresent but not heavy handed, vanilla grows as it warms. Doesn't hit all together for longer than a brief moment, but all aspects are pleasant. Feel is lighter but oh so smooth with decent barrel, vanilla, and coffee textures to make it all work. Let it warm up! Best of the 2020 lineup so far

A Tavour treat. Pours a black color with a minimal head that lasts quite a while. Aroma is coffee and roasted malts. Tastes of coffee, vanilla and bourbon; black coffee bitterness at the finish.

A: The beer is jet black in color. It poured with a short dark tan head that quickly died down, leaving just a thin ring of beige bubbles around the edge of the glass.
S: Light to moderate aromas of coffee beans are present in the nose along with notes of bourbon from the barrel aging and hints of vanilla.
T: The taste starts out with bold flavors of coffee beans, which mellow out a bit in the middle when the vanilla becomes noticeable, but then stand out again in the finish. Bourbon flavors are present throughout the taste.
M: It feels medium-bodied and slick on the palate with a low to moderate amount of carbonation.
O: The taste of this beer is interesting in that the combination of flavors changes from start to finish. I particularly enjoyed the middle of the taste when you get all three flavors of coffee, vanilla and bourbon. It does a rather good job at hiding the alcohol from the taste and isn't that heavy on the palate.

Serving type: bottle

Bourbon barrel aged imperial stout with coffee and Madagascar vanilla beans. 2018 Edition, which clocked in at 13.5% ABV. Aged for one year. Poured from a bottle into a MadTree tulip. The pour is just like the regular Dark Charge: pitch black topped by a frothy tan head with very good retention. The vanilla really comes through on the nose, but the coffee is sadly faded. Beyond that, there is the typical toasted oak, cocoa, roasted malt and hint of smoke that are on the nose of the standard Dark Charge.

Full body with an oily feel. Mild char and roast with toffee and vanilla up front as well as some rich barrel flavors. At mid-palate, the sweet tones are overtaken by the steadily strengthening roast, turning the flavor to roasted malt, espresso, and unsweetened cocoa. The roastiness lingers persistently on the finish. No hints of oxidation or off-putting tart flavors.

After a year in the bottle the beer is much smoother than it was when fresh. The age has taken a big bite out of the (in my opinion, excessive) roastiness. Nevertheless, this beer is still something of a roast monster.

Coal, bourbon and a working-class attitude all converge in taste and opidomize what Kentucky is all about- and this is the taste that these Covington beer makers have achieved in Dark Charge imperial stout; this time woven together with the soft and creamy spice of vanilla and the equally earthy spice of coffee.

The darkness of iron ore, and a slow dissolving tarnish head leaves the beer looking like a viscous espresso. And the nose confirms those aspirations with robust dark coffee. A waft of vanilla, molasses, walnut and cocoa give roundedness to the roasty and campfire scent. Its burnt sweetness saturates the tongue with cocoa-rich, coffee-flooded brownie batter and savory umami notes.

Across the middle palate, the superior stout continues to open, sharing more of its secrets. Relaxing molasses flavors shift to burnt sugars and strong espresso roast. Softened with heavy cream and whole bean vanilla, a charred fruit and spice character arise. Lightly vinous, the taste of sherry, grilled cherry and licorice provide complexity ahead of the unmistakable charm of charred oak, caramel, coconut, wood spice and boozy bourbony warmth.

Full, lavish and sultry with roasty sweetness, the nearly over-the-top stout is tempered with oak tannins that dry the palate along with the sweet and savory roast for a drying wine-like finish. Warming and boozy, the spicy finish is once again tamed by the use of vanilla to keep the tastebuds craving another sip.