BA Belgian Stout
Fernie Brewing Co.

650ml, gold wax ensconced bottle (still a huuuuuuge pain in the ass, FWIW) - a blend of American whiskey barrel-aged brews (the yeast coming in as Belgian, so yeah).

This beer pours a fairly solid black, with the scantest of basal amber edges, and two fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and bubbly brown head, which leaves some pockmarked, low-lying hill profile lace around the glass as it evenly bleeds away.

It smells of lightly roasted, bready and doughy caramel malt, some mixed dark pome fruitiness, a hint of earthy yeast, some anise spice, and a small leafy, musty, and dead floral hoppiness. The taste is rather sweet, grainy and bready caramel malt, brown sugar syrup, Bourbon oak vanillan essences, a faint smokiness, some plum, prune, and cherry fruity esters, dark cocoa powder, and more understated earthy, leafy, and herbal green hop bitters.

The carbonation is fairly timid in its palate-satisfying frothiness, the body a solid medium, yet leaning towards heavy weight, and actually quite smooth, with a heady creaminess pretty much there from the get-go. It finishes well off-dry, the supposedly varied malt really running the lingering show, as it were.

Overall - this is a rather engaging and enjoyable iteration of this big-boy version of the style, with the Belgian 'character' pretty much obliterated by the Yankee interference (too many muddled historical references there to get into one coherent thought right now, I'm afraid). Worth checking out, especially considering the very well hidden large ABV contingent. That, and my random MP3 playlists seem to know exactly what life is all about at the moment. Of course they do.

Fernie Brewing 'BA Belgian Stout' @ 10.8% , served from a gold waxed 650 ml bottle
A-pour is black from bottle to glass with a small tan head which is dissipating into a fine spotty lace along the tulip
S-both barrels well represented
T-big & smooth , warming , bourbon , single malt whiskey , vanilla , chocolate ,
MF-mild carbonation , very full bodied , heavy beer
Ov-with a nod to 'leaddog' dangerous beer , sip carefully
prost LampertLand

Appearance - Pours a jet black with two fingers of bubbly tan head.

Smell - earthy and leafy hops, bourbon, oak, vanilla, smoked roasted malts, cocoa, dark chocolate, alcohol warmth, and earthy yeast.

Taste - earthy and leafy hops upfront. The bourbon, oak, and vanilla come through next. The brew then goes into the smoked roasted malts, dark chocolate, and alcohol warmth. The brew is finished off by the earthy yeast.

Mouthfeel - Medium to full bodied with moderate carbonation. Finishes with the bourbon, oak, vanilla, and dark chocolate lingering.

Overall - A potent seasonal tipple from the folks at Fernie. This one uses both barrels very well. A flavourful and dangerous sipper.