Barrel-Aged Demon Star
Postdoc Brewing

Poured from a 500mL waxed bottle into my 8th Wonder chalice. This is the 2025 bottling, so, basically not aged in the bottle at all.

Appearance: nice black hue with maybe a few brown highlights. Head poured a finger of rich dark-tan foam, but it subsided pretty quickly and left no lace on the glass. Color is very attractive, but better head retention would make it so much prettier!

Smell: sweet, with a nice oaky aroma that adds some vanilla character to the dark cherry, raisin, date, and tobacco aromas. It's neither too astringent nor too boozy -- I dig it.

Taste: sweeter than the aroma, and quite a bit fruitier. I think the oak adds a little tanniny dryness which helps to counteract the big sweetness, though the oak itself is more subtle. Booziness is present, but it's not as boozy as many (most?) BA stouts I've had. There are some flavors of maybe oxidation, but rather than detracting, they kinda augment the tobacco and shoe leather flavors I like so much in big beers like this. Maybe it's not perfect, but I am really digging this beer.

Mouthfeel: big body with a low-to-moderate carbonation and a silky but not super creamy mouthfeel. For this and the head, some more carbonation would do wonders!

Overall: a really solid BBA stout. I don't drink these all that super often, but I've had a fair number in my day, and I appreciate that this one is not "too" anything -- not too sweet, not too oaky, not too astringent, etc. etc. I like it.

 

 

 

draught
Completely opaque black with a medium bodied, light brown head. Aroma of dark chocolate with a roasty tinge. Some sharpness and heat at beginning of taste with the heavily roasted grain taking center stage with some chocolate and cayenne flavors. Finishes with the roasted grain and cayenne elements.

 

Tar black body; one-finger thick head, yet dense and creamy, light tan colored and lasting. Immensely pleasant aroma of dark, charred grain and bittersweet chocolate; some cherry notes with an edge of whiskey. Cocoa and fudge flavors cut with some fine, subtle notes of bourbon; sweet but not cloyingly so; notes of cherries again. Heavy, heavy body; sludgy and oily; immense body that coats the palate; dull sweetness offset with slight boozy dryness; sticky.

Man, oh man! This is one exceptional barrel-aged imperial stout. My liking is that it's very much a straightforward imperial / Russian stout in taste. The barrel aging is there but doesn't overwhelm the base beer. Acquired through a beer trade, and so very thankful for this experience.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque black in the glass with a quarter finger light brown head with great retention and nice lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, milk and dark chocolate, bourbon and vanilla. Flavor follows, with dark toasted malt, rich dark chocolate, mild bourbon, light coffee and oaky vanilla. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess; silky mouth feel. A flavorful, well brewed and barreled imperial stout. Solid, rich stout base with great chocolate character and a light touch of bourbon and barrel oak. Not sure why this has gotten so little love here, maybe this year's is particularly stellar. I like this a lot; one my favorite stouts of the year.