Oak Aged Imperial Stout
Finkel & Garf Brewing Company

 

 

a great brew from these guys, by far their most impressive offering. a viscous muddy dark chocolate brown color, without hardly any head, just some patches of lace on the edges of the glass. the nose is amazing, i get a ton of charred oak. i suspect they did this one with the oak spirals, it has that intensity to it that you rarely see from a barrel. i like that though, dont think its a shortcut or anything at all. the beer gets the oak flavor quickly and stays fresher instead of having the whole time to mellow all out. i like how robust the base beer is, cocoa notes and some tobacco leaf sweetness and stickiness, without some of the bitter that comes with these. the oak is the best though, its so smoothing and flavorful, really woody without any pine or birch or anything with it. layers of dark chocolate and raisin in here, a little sweeter crystal in the center, but resolved in the end, english yeasty there where the normal bitterness would be from the dark barley. super silky this is too, not a trace of its alcohol strength at all, and i dig that. lots of sweet vanilla oak in the finish, lingers forever. i could be wrong about the oak spirals, but thats what it tastes like to me. easily the best from these guys so far, i love this one and definitely plan to buy it again. great value as well!