Bourbon-Barrel Archaism
Medusa Brewing Company

Deep dark brown color—no light passes. Nearly no head and certainly no lacing.

Chocolatey nose with some dark cherry background.

Rich in flavor and body, enhanced by a lighter carbonation. Lots of booze, giving this a sherry-like taste. Warming aftertaste. Semisweet chocolate finish.

Pitch black thick with nice head fair lacing

Nose roasted malt, burnt coffee, dark chocolate, cocoa, nougat and caramel notes, a bit of whiskey and fair toasted oak vanilla

Taste brings more roast, bordering acrid but not there, dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, nougat, a little burnt marshmallow, vanilla barrel oak, touch of whiskey

Mouth is fuller bod, rich chewy, hint of alcohol, med to lighter carb

a very fine barrel aged stout here, quality bourbon it smells and tastes like too! my first beer from these guys, an excellent first impression i must say. its nice and dark and heavy, a really sturdy base stout, with a deep roast to it, a unbrewed coffee character, and some char element in the grain composition. its smart to have it be on the drier side, anticipating the sweetness of the bourbon. the beer ends up not being too sugary at all, which is a common pitfall for these. it instead has a finishing dryness despite a sweet vanilla forward whiskey middle. the barrel char and the dark roasted barley add some nice earthen bitterness to the finish. i get a note of maple syrup and one of raisin here, nice layering of flavor, and a warming coffee and alcohol quality at the end too. plenty of body here, this is palate coating but not sticky, its not too heavy to enjoy a good amount of, which is a rarity in the style these days. i thought this was excellent, and it has me keen to try more beers from medusa!

 

 

 

 

In one word: underwhelming. One of the weaker BA beers I've had. A decent drinker but thin and lacking that full flavor profile you want in a big stout, regardless of barrel-aging.

Drank today from a growler poured today at the Medusa 2nd anniversary party; from the Medusa website: "This batch of our Imperial Stout, ARCHAISM, was conditioned for several months in freshly dumped Weller Bourbon barrels".