9th Anniversary Sundae Born Day
Magnify Brewing Company

Poured into snulip glass at 61° It's dark walnut in color. The medium mocha head fizzled away immediately - the typical appearance for Born Day. There are small amounts of detritus floating in the glass. Again, that is not unusual for Born Day. Its smell is bold and sweet with chocolate cake, coffee, vanilla, and subtle bourbon. But the bourbon dominates the initial sip - it rather overwhelms the sweetness of the cake batter and Rice Krispies. I don't recall any Born Day variant being so overtly boozy although it does mellow as it breathes in the glass. It is also surprisingly bitter. In fact, it really doesn't drink like a Pastry Stout. As expected the mouth feel is terrific - thick and oily in a good way - with low carbonation. And it drinks every bit of its 13.5% ABV. I'm glad Magnify uses the 500 ML format because this is a big Stout. Overall, I was surprised how potent the barrel-aging is in this variant. On the other hand it's not overly sweet.