Proper Pour Cabernet Cask 2024
Boulevard Brewing Co.

(initial review from October 2024) See previous reviews of various vintages of Proper Pour, this version seems much less bourbony/leathery/tobacco-y than past years? Still a well balanced, BA imperial stout with nice vinous/red wine notes & definitely a smooth fooler of a 12.5%er that drinks like less.

Todays review, See initial review. This 2024 has held up astonishingly well for an always cellared/refrigerated bottle, retaining good carbonation, nice lacing, all flavors mellowed but present plus a wonderful aroma. Sure wish I'd have bought more than two!

10oz pour at Hops & Bottles. Near black pour, razor thin ring of beige foam. Robust aroma, boozy, chocolate, raisins, grapes. Taste is super smooth considering the ABV, sweet, warm, chocolate covered raisins. Still a sipper, but very enjoyable.

it’s a little weak as a stout but it’s not lacking at all as a strong, complex barrel-aged release. the cab aging gives an almost tart finish. look is opaque with no head at all and the feel is a bit thin, more like a whiskey pour, although it does thicken nicely with the draw.

 

Proper Pour Cabernet Cask 2024 has a thin, beige head and a dark-brown appearance, with no lacing. The aroma is of brown bread crust and red wine. No bourbon is detected. The flavor is of dark raisins, wine, bourbon, and brown bread. Some funkiness is noticed. Proper Pour Cabernet Cask 2024 has low bitterness, moderate sweetness, a high-medium body, and a dry finish.

RJT

 

12 ounce bottle, enjoy by 28JUN2026 stamped on the label, thanks to Brutaltruth for this one! Served in a snifter, the beer pours dark brown/black with about an inch tan head that stuck around a long time. There's also a lot of lacing. I like the aroma, the brew smells like roasted malt, dark fruit, red wine/grapes, dark chocolate, vanilla and some oak. For the most part I think the taste is similar to the aroma, but there's also some dark bread, whiskey, coffee and burnt/charred malt flavors noticeable. The red wine flavor stands out to me compared to the others but doesn't overpower them either. Mouthfeel/body is medium/full, it's slick and a bit creamy with a good amount of soft carbonation. I thought this was a good overall brew but definitely recommend it more to people who like red wine and wine barrel aged stouts!

A rich, elegant, and refined imperial stout that tastes like a mix of stout beer, whiskey, and red wine. It even has a dark reddish wine color to it, like Boulevard’s Baltic Porter.

 

The pour is black with some ruby tinges when held in light along with a beige head of foam. The taste is sweet roasted, bourbon barrel oak, wine barrel oak. along with some hints of prune, dark chocolate, & vanilla. Moreover, the 12.5% abv is well hidden. Overall, this was an interesting tasting stout. Cheers! A-

 

(12 oz bottle, KC0628241240 28JUN2026C; purchased cold single at Pinocchio's last week... poured into a St. Bernardus chalice)

L: deep dark brown liquid with finger-high, tight then bubbly foam, collapsing quick into craggy collar... gets dirty and messy and unsightly in the home stretch, lacing in lil pointillistic pops

S: jammy, dark chocolate covered jelly, mildly roasty, deeply toasty darkened grain laden malt monolithic... bit more bitter cocoa and woody red highlights as it goes

T: blast of bourbony ganache up front with a fiery boozy searedness midway, finishing and lingering with that afterburn electrifying the raisinet and barrel-drawn, surprisingly heavy wine and whiskey influences... aftertaste exudes thin horizontal rivulet of dense, vaguely amaro-like bittersweetness, while a subtle smoky char builds on the palate

F: feels fine... svelte swell each sip, quiet storm blasted through the finish with the booze and smoke, and little residual viscosity... the burn is warm and tingly, but short of sharp and singeing, though there is a little lingering acidity

O: solid base imperial stout with a lovely level of bourbon flavor and Cab coloring to enhance its seductive, sedative effects... I'd totally have this again; price ($7.25, at Pino's) at that prohibitive (2409)

 

Very good mouthfeel. Wine flavour moderated stout. Wonderful combination, Holiday Mart find. Not balance, not too much wine or stout so some unique drinking.

 

I already knew I liked Boulevard’s BA stouts, so I wasn’t too apprehensive about going outside of my comfort zone to try this. It’s truth in advertising: there is indeed a Cabernet undertone to this tasty stout, both in terms of aroma and taste. I wanted to sip and savor it like a glass of wine, but my body told me that this is beer, so I went for the gusto. It was deeply satisfying and the 12.5 ABV wasn’t a face smacker, but you must accept the premise that this has clear wine influence. I did, I do, and I will again.