Barely Something
J. Wakefield Brewing

Rum barrel raspberry and cherry stout. On tap at the brewery. Black body. Smell is heavy rum. Fruit blends with it. Molasses. Really rich dark malts. Fruits aren’t very distinct, just lend a bit of acidity to the nose. Tastes very sweet, then the rum hits. Strong rum flavor dominates. Same molasses and very rich chocolate malt flavor. Tart fruitiness in the back end. Heavy and very sweet. Boozy, too. Took a few sips, but it grew on me.

Reviewed from notes. Poured from a 750 mL bottle into a J. Wakefield Brewing OG teku glass.

A: Almost black, opaque, with a thin tan head. Almost no carbonation visible in here. The head fades rather quickly - other than that, this pours very nice-looking.

S: A punch of bourbon up front, with roasted malts and barrel tannins. There's fruitiness - I think it comes off more as cherry, but I'll believe raspberry. Notes of chocolate, vanilla, and tobacco. Mild barrel char.

T: Follows the nose. Chocolate and raspberry juice up front, dark roasted malt body. Less bourbon than the nose suggested, but it’s strongly there. Vanilla and oak tannins. The sweetness from the fruit and dryness from barrel tannins stay nearly in balance. This finishes with a lingering sweetness (from both malts and fruit) and some alcohol heat.

M: A fairly light body for style and appearance, though it's far from watery. Low carbonation sensation. The alcohol presence seems restrained for style.

O: A decent fruited barrel-aged stout. The light body detracts some here, and maybe some more barrel character (not necessarily bourbon flavor) would have helped a bit. Not my favorite beer, but good.

 

Huge raspberry scent, jammy. Flavour has the raspberry, chocolate, tastes like the barrel is rum, though the label does not specify. Quite good, though I couldn't drink a lot of it.