Inner Space - Old Elk Bourbon Barrel Aged
Barreled Souls Brewing Company

Im sampling a 500 ml bottle at cellar temp and poured into my snifter. The beer was bottled on 2/2/2023. I picked it up at the brewery in the fall of 2024 and its been in my cellar since then.
The beer pours a rich dark coffee brown color, although no light passes through my glass, when held to the light. A dense creamy beige head foams up about .5 cm and fades to a sturdy surface layer soon after the pour. One large island of foam also slowly spins in the center of my glass.
Aroma on this beer is a nice mix of malt characters. I get dark chocolate, caramel notes and a little vanilla and some bourbon notes. No hop note and the booziness is also very well hidden on the aroma.
the first sip reveals a medium body with fine tingly carbonation. Fairly smooth texture, not very sticky or coating, which can happen on some bigger beers.
Flavor is similar to the nose, some dark chocolate and molasses with caramel and bourbon notes coming on in the middle and bourbon lingering. Not a lot of char or barrel character, and not very sweet bourbon and Im not getting any vanilla here. No hop character and the beer is not very boozy either. I am enjoying this beer over the course of the evening and am glad to have a 2nd bottle in the cellar.

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

This smells like roasted malt, char, vanilla, caramel, and dark chocolate.

This isn’t quite as outrageous as some Barreled Souls can get, but it’s still a really nice pour. There’s lots of dark chocolate and caramel seemingly from the base stout, with a layer of tobacco and charred spice from the barrel. I also get some light vanilla notes, and some coffee.

This is medium bodied, slightly boozy but not overwhelmingly so, with a long smooth and creamy finish.

I see Old Elk popping up a lot lately in barrel aged beers, and it does tend to create a tasty finished product.