Make Me A Stout, Clown
Barreled Souls Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

Poured at fridge temp. Pours a nice black with rapidly disappearing head. In fact, I don't remember another beer that had head disappear so quickly. Literally hissed and was gone - I'm talking 2 inches that fled in a few seconds. I hope that doesn't mean anything is off.

The nose is really nice. Definitely smooth, with nice layers of chocolate fudge and vanilla. Coconut, maple, and toffee come through. This is a decadent nose. A bit of lactose as well. Can't wait to try it.

The taste is sweet. Oreo cookies, vanilla ice cream, chocolate, fudge, coconut, maple syrup, marshmallows, and the slightest hint of roasted malts on the back end. Make no mistake - this is a pastry stout that the sweet additives are front and center. The alcohol (14.4%) is detectable, but in a mild way. I would actually be surprised to hear that it was this high if I was tasting in blind. Anyway, the taste is generally sweet with lots of nice flavors.

Mouthfeel is creamy and thick. Overall, this is a fantastic pastry stout. Glad I could try it.

This one pours a fairly dark black color, with a small head, and not much lacing.

This smells like rich milk chocolate, vanilla, marshmallow, roast, caramel, and coconut.

The oreos are the stronger flavor here, over the coconut, but it doesn't get completely overly sweet, like some stouts that use straight cookies can get. There's rich milk chocolate, some vanilla and creamy marshmallow like flavors, probably from the Oreo creme in the middle. There's a little bit of barrel, adding caramel, typical bourbon notes, and some light spice. The coconut is just on the finish, a little bit, and surprisingly well restrained overall.

This is thick, creamy, and not really boozy at all. It's very drinkable for the style.

With a few exceptions, Barreled Souls doen't go overboard on the adjuncts, and makes the stouts well rounded and well barreled as the primary focus. I didn't know if it would be possible to have a well balanced barrel aged oreo and coconut stout, but I guess I found one.