Iron Jaw
The Veil Brewing Co. - Production Brewery

 

 

Pitch black. Big bourbon and chocolate aroma and flavor; rich, robust and boozy. Nice balance and blend of Imperial Stout and BBA Imperial Stout. Medium to full bodied with a warming boozy finish.

Wonderful aroma, smooth taste, excellent feel. Extremely drinkable.

On tap at brewery:
A black void of a body with a thin medium brown ring. A swirl doesn’t alter the shyness of carbonation bubbles, mainly appearing to dirty the glass wall temporarily. The nose isn’t as powerful with booze as I’d expect given the specs. Generically, I get roasted malt that comes as dark chocolate and a hint of coconut. An undersweetened Mounds bad comes to mind.

First sip seemed very dry and roasty with a ton of wood tannin. Next sip brought some whisky tang and a little more sweetness, but the finish was still tannin dry.

Overall, it took some sipping to come to terms with this. Even then, it just seems that the beer spent too much time in the barrel. It grabbed more of the bitter wood and that overshadowed to almost completely blocked out the extraction of things the barrel once held.

 

Poured at fridge temp. Pours a very thick black with minimal brown head. The nose is full of roasted malts, oak bitterness, coffee grounds, charred wood, tobacco. Not getting barrel at this point.

The taste is intense. Super bitter. Light chewing on burnt wood. Tar, dark roasted malts, burnt toffee, molasses, some dark fruit, coffee grounds, super dark chocolate, and a hint of maple. Although this was aged in bourbon barrels, I get a bit of rye spice. Very smoky overall.

Mouthfeel is medium to thick bodied, with a smoky and oily aftertaste. Good stout.

 

CANNED ON 2/03/25. Poured into a Duvel tulip.

A: Jet black with short cap of dark brown head with sparse dots of lacing.

S: Nose is muddled with mostly dark caramel malt aroma, black coffee, and some dark chocolate

T: Flavor is pleasant with a little more sweet barrel character but still I distinct with some black coffee, dark malt, darker caramel, and dark chocolate. Alcohol is there but pretty well incorporated. Bitterness is medium.

M: Full bodied with moderate carbonation and full finish but pretty drinkable despite 12% ABV.

O: Iron Jaw is a decent BA imperial stout but it is far behind most of the readily available big boys like KBS, BCBS, and BA Narwhal.

Canned 2024/03/05
Pours inky thick pitch black with a frothy semi dense 1/2 finger black head with good retention and a bit of lacing even

Nose brings roasted notes, not super roasted but dark black malt roast notes, dark chocolate, cocoa, mocha java, sweet creme brulee covered with fudge sauce, some vanilla spice, cookie dough

Taste brings more layers of dark chocolate, ganache, fudge sauce, cocoa, then mild roasted malts, again not overly roasty more like a bit of a bite from dark blackish malts, some bitterness from the roast as well and mild spicy hops, into some baking spices and mild cookie dough, a touch of caramel sweetness and nougat, some perfumey alcohol kicks in late, sticky sweet finish with a bit of booze

Mouth is full bod, rich a bit creamy, fair warming slight tingly alcohol

Overall not bad, much smoother and drinkable than I expected for such a big stout, less of the harsh roast and more smooth chocolate malt with rounded edges