Kratovo - Conditioned on Brandy Barrel Oak Chips
Three Magnets Brewing

 

Poured from 16oz tall can into a tulip.

Appearance: totally black with multiple fingers of frothy, creamy, dark-tan foam. Capital!

Smell: rich and roasty with a solid stout character, a good sweetness, and a bit of yeastiness thrown in the mix. Quite good.

Taste: dark and roasty with lots of bitter character; plenty of coffee in here along wihth a roasty bitterness. The barrel is pretty mild, but I think it comes through just enough to be interesting. This beer has a lot of character without being overwhelming -- great!

Mouthfeel: medium body with a decent carbonation and an alright creaminess. I'd like a little bit more smoothness in an RIS, but overall it's not too bad.

Overall: a darn good beer. I like the subtlety (although as a brandy fan, this is an instance where I might actually choose *more* barrel), and this beer is balanced and tasty. Good stuff!

 

Can from Tavour
Inky black with a huge mocha head that persists. Rich chocolate and caramel with hints of roast licorice and brandy. Rich creamy mouthfeel thick body. That is a really nice stout, wish I had ordered more than one.

Can:
Pours fairly thick and black. A dark brown head foams up. This lasts nicely, though it gets a little spongy looking as it falls. Nice lacing.

Nose seems to stick to the base stout. Charred toast, bitter coffee, a little hint of dark cherry.

I can’t detect the brandy specifically, but feel it might have brought a soft edge to this roasty stout. There’s a near chalkiness to the feel that doesn’t get distracting because of a berry tang that smooths it out. Coffee and cocoa impressions weave in and out of my mind as supplying the base. A little tannin note comes with the hints of oak past the mid-taste. Bitter, but sneakily so, and it’s not obvious if it’s the char or any hops.

I found this well constructed and very enjoyable. If you are hoping for a big influence from the chips, I can’t say you’ll get it. But I felt their presence in a supporting role was there and appreciated.

 

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque black in the glass with a half finger chocolate brown head with great retention and nice lacing; looks dramatic. Aroma of dark toasted malt with slight char, coffee, dark chocolate and a hint of caramel and woodiness. Flavor is dark toasted malt, dry caramel, dark molasses, dark chocolate and mocha, slight oak. Finishes dry, toasted and moderately charry with mild hop bitterness. Medium bodied with light creaminess and good carbonation. This is one dark stout, visually and taste. I'm not getting any brandy notes and only a little oak or woody flavors, but the overall malt is very nicely toasted and all the associated flavors are dark. The body and maltiness are not quite Russian imperial stout depth and this is drier than that style, usually is, but it is very flavorful and rich. It reminds me a lot of a coffee stout. I like this more than the base stout, I think there is more flavor depth and variety. Nice char chocolate notes. I expected more oak, but really don't feel it was necessary anyway (probably some of the complexity is from the wood chips, although there is little overt woodiness). I like this a lot.