Berrien County Stout
Arclight Brewing Company

Medium MF, well balanced

 

Love the name, and really it is a take on bcbs. Highly carbonated viscous black stout with no head. Smell is cola like, with bourbon, dark chocolate, vanilla, and charred wood coming through powerfully. Taste has dark chocolate, bourbon, vanilla, dark fruit, charred wood, leather, and caramel. Very boozy, and the carbonation is too high in the feel for my preference, breaks up the smooth luxuriousness of the beer they are paying homage to. Lighter body, but flavoring is good, much more bourbon centric

 

Basically a lighter version of BCBS.
Actually just half the abv. Everything else knocks it out the park.
-Look is almost black with hints/hues of dark brown. Medium dark tan head at first pour. Dissipates to a small outside ring with oily lace, then fades completely.
- Nose is sweet barrel, dark chocolates, vanilla and some sweet fruit with hints of alcohol.
-Taste is is soo rich for such a low abv. So much flavor from the barrel meshes well with this stout. Vanilla, milk chocolates, bourbon, molasses, maybe some dark fruits on the end along with a slight alcohol burn. Insanely full flavor from what I was expecting.
- Feel is medium to full bodied. Sticky almost chewy mouthfeel.
World class stout by Arclight. Heard they make some great sours but they crushed it on this BA stout.

 

22 ounce bottle into snifter, 2019 vintage bottling. Pours dense pitch black color with a small dense dark tan head with great retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, molasses, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, fudge, brownie batter, marshmallow, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, roasted nuts, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of licorice, raisin, prune, cherry, fig, date, smoke, charcoal, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oaky earthiness. Slight booze in the aromas as it warms, but not overwhelming. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/black/roast/bready malts, bourbon barrels, and light fruity yeast/earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, molasses, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, fudge, brownie batter, marshmallow, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, roasted nuts, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of licorice, raisin, prune, cherry, fig, date, smoke, charcoal, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oaky earthiness. Light-moderate herbal, grassy, roast, charcoal bitterness; bourbon/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, molasses, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, fudge, brownie batter, marshmallow, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, roasted nuts, dark bread/crust, licorice, dark fruit, smoke, charcoal, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oaky earthiness on the finish for a while. Amazing complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/black/roast/bready malts, bourbon barrels, and light fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; with a great roasted bitter/sweet and bourbon/oak spiciness balance; and no cloying, acrid, astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering hop/roast bitterness and bourbon/oak spiciness. Light-medium carbonation and fairly full body; with very smooth, creamy, silky, velvety, rich, bready mouthfeel that is fantastic. Light slickness, sticky hops, chalky roast, and bourbon/oak tannins. Mild increasing warmth of 8.5%, with minimal lingering barrel booze after the finish. Overall this is an amazing barrel aged Russian imperial stout! All around incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, bourbon barrels, and light fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the ABV; with the mildly bitter/tannic/drying finish. This is very reminiscent of Bourbon County as the name suggests, at nearly half the ABV. Insanely rich malt complexity, with perfect bourbon barrel presence/integration; and solid earthy hops against sweetness. Bit of yeast fruitiness. A highly enjoyable offering, and top tier style example.