Cave-Aged Barrel-Aged Series: 2016
August Schell Brewing Company

Pours a very dark brown, almost black colour. Smells like oak and whiskey, rich chocolate notes, vanilla, treacle, and char. Tastes like oak, dark cherry pits, char, treacle, sweet roasted malts, a little heavy, with a char finish.

Pours a dark brown with a good finger of tan head that dissipated fairly quickly leaving a thin ring around the glass.
Aroma of toasted malt, toffee like, chocolaty goodness. Wondering what barrels are used in this one, catching lots of oakiness.
Taste is much like the aroma with a very smooth feel. A wonderful beverage!

This beer pours very dark, almost pitch black. There is minimal tan head. There's nice carbonation bubbles rising in the glass. The nose is rich smelling - malty, slight chocolate. The taste is really full flavored. There's vanilla hints. Sweetness. Caramel. Really full bodied, not watery at all going down. Very solid offering from Schell's. Get it if you can.

 

 

Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a Sam Adams "Perfect Pint" glass.

It is a dark, chestnut to mahogany brown. A lot of amber hues when the light hits it. There was a moderate dark tan frothy head that dissipated into a thin film that works its way to the outside of the glass into a tight bubbled soapy ring.

The aroma is wonderful. Very malty and rich. I would bet money this is a Bock. There is toffee, a bit of chocolate, dark bread, caramel, charred oak, vanilla, and very noticeable whisky. Still, I would say there is more malt than barrel. Probably 60/40.

Everything really translates over into the flavor. A lot of rich sweetness up front. Carmel, toffee, and vanilla, followed by some chocolate that is more sweet than bitter. Think milk chocolate or cocoa. There is a slight bit of heat initially along with some Noble hop like bite/crispness. Toward the back end the whisky notes really come out. A decent amount of charred oak and corn grain alcohol. My 60/40 guess seems pretty close for beer to barrel ratio. A very nice balance.

The body would be my biggest nitpick if we are talking "Dark Lager", which is what they described it as on their website. To me it is too heavy and syrupy in this department. I think it screams Bock/Doppel. I do like the smoothness and the lively feel in the finish though.

This beer is a great example of using another aspect as a compliment. The barrel character never dominates or takes over an already tasty beverage.

Schell's is my "sweetheart." Only 20 miles away, Mrs O and I first toured the brewery in 2000, and since then I've tried 50+ beers from them - and none of them are an IPA.

This particular beer is astounding. A Munich Dunkel Lager by description, this beer is so much more, IMHO. It starts with a beautiful dark brown pour that supports a couple of fingers of tan head. The smell yields a little of the barrel and the toffee/chocolate malts.

But the taste - you get the smoothness of the lagering, but the barrel really seizes control - and then yields to the chocolate and toffe sweetness. This is a world-class lager, IMHO.

 

Light tan head. Dark caramel brown.

This one has much more of a barrel presence than the stag series version. Nice whiskey and oak presence. Caramel and chocolate malts. Some molasses.

Medium to full bodied. Smooth.

This is a great lager. Definitely worth a try. Don't sleep on this one.