Belly Of The Beast - Barrel Aged Maple Glazed
Rockingham Brewing Company

 

Poured from 500ml bottle into pint glass in May 2022, that I purchased at their brewery. There was a bottled on date on the label of May 2022, and I drank this less than 1 week after purchase.

Appearance: Very dark black with a 2 finger head. Head was tan, and thins out after a couple minutes. It left a moderate amount of lacing on the glass, more than most imperial stouts.

Smell: Strong maple aroma as expected by the name. Some bourbon, roasted coffee, and chocolate. There is some additional sweetness like vanilla as well. Not much hop aroma.

Taste: There is a mix of maple, roasted malt, and bacon flavors. They are more balanced than I expected from the aroma. Also some coffee flavors along with the bourbon. Some chocolate and a little caramel flavor. Maybe a little vanilla flavor as well. Flavors are very bold. There is a strong alcohol presence that matches 10.0% on the label. A strong maple, bacon, chocolate, and whiskey aftertaste, that is really enjoyable.

Mouth-feel: Thick, but with an extremely smooth and creamy body.

This is a good barrel aged Imperial Stout, and it has a variety of flavors that adds a nice complexity to the beer. The balance of flavors is outstanding. The bacon flavoring makes it unique from other barrel aged stouts. It is very smooth and enjoyable to drink. I look forward to comparing this to their standard 'Belly Of The Beast' stout. Even though this is very expensive, I would buy this again.

I picked up this 750ml bottle in NOV18 during a vintage bottle sale at The Rock.. Bottled 1MAY16.... Took me a good 5 minutes to get the cork out! Damn! Hope it's worth it!! Here goes...

Poured some into a Smutty snifter... Jet black North Sea crude comes forth... Head starts at 1/4" of mocha colored bubbles, but ebbs rapidly to a thin, fine layer. Lacing is a bit on the lighter side, though. The aroma is off the charts! Has the chocolatey, bacony smell that the original Beast has. Then there's loads of maple, plus hints of the whiskey barrels it was aged in. Damn!! The feel is rather smooth, but it's a bit thinner than I feel something like this should be. No, it's not thin; just not full and chewy.

The flavor is lovely! Has dark choco and cocoa, with some suggestions of smoke. The bacon appears again, along with more maple and a touch of molasses. The whiskey lurks in the background, never jumping out at you but also never exiting stage left.... A tiny bit of florality lingers on the palate in the finish, though the maple/whiskey combo leaves more of a lasting impression. A solid, solid offering! Prosit!!

4.3/5 rDev +1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

2057

 

 

 

Poured into a 16 oz Magnify snulip glass not sure when it was bottled, but I am sure it was recent. Pours a very vicious near black with a very attractive 2 plus inch sticky mocha heads that leaves gobs of lace behind.

Smell is crispy nearly burned bacon, smoke, dark chocolate, vanilla, and bourbon.

Taste follows smoky from start to finish, bacon grease, dark chocolate, vanilla, and bourbon.

Mouthfeel is on the large side, creamy with moderate amount of life, on the dry side, and drink ability is solid, but if you aren't into smoked beers, skip it.

Overall I am not a smoked beer fanatic, but this actually pretty pleasant, with a massive mouthfeel and very attractive.

This was poured from a bottle dated 4/12/17 released this weekend at the brewery. Poured a dark black color with a rich dark tan head. A thin layer of the head lingers on top as you drink. The nose is rich and boozey with a a hint of maple and some molasses. The taste at first had me a little puzzled as I hadn't yet read all the info on the bottle. There was something a little off or so I thought until I realized that this is whiskey barrel aged not bourbon. So on that note there are nice maple overtones with some smokiness from the bacon and the little bite of the whiskey in the back of the throat. The mouthfeel is smooth, yup really smooth actually. Once I read the bottle and realized what I was tasting this is a very well done stout aged in whiskey barrels and for once there is a real maple overtone. Having grown up with an uncle that ran a sugar house I am sort of a maple snob and when you say it has maple in it I better be able to taste the real thing and they got it right along with all the other aspects in my book.

 

 

 

 

Bottle from the brewery.
Solid black in color with a frothy tan head that persists. Rich sweet maple sweetness with bits of chocolate and roast countering a solid smokey flavor. Light sweet bourbony barrel notes round this out quite nicely. Very well done.