Barrel Aged Imperial Hell Hawk
Old Stove Brewing Co.

2024-03-09
22oz bottle served in a curvy Fremont glass. If there's a date, I don't see it.

Pours very dark black, with a smallish, short-lived head despite a pretty aggressive pour. There's a moderately thick ring that goes most of the way around the glass, and a surprisingly-high-for-the-style level of carbonation. Smell is moderately boozy, lots of vanilla, strong coconut and chocolate.

Taste is boozy, with a ton of chocolate that almost mixes with the coconut to make a Mounds kind of flavor. Vanilla is pretty strong, too. Sweet, but not too sweet. Maybe a bit of a caramel tone to it, too.

Mouthfeel is not super thick, but it triggers that thickened saliva sensation that I associate with milk. Maybe that's the lactose, that's an interesting thought. Overall, it's pretty good. If the coconut and booziness were toned down by about 50% and the texture thickened a bit, this would be great, to my preferences.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque in the glass with a thin khaki head that dissipates to patches with slight lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, coconut, vanilla and light cocoa; a bit boozy. Flavor follows, with dark toasted malt, vanilla, coconut, bourbon and moderate cocoa. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. Well, I years ago, my first stouts from Old Stove were OK, but underwhelming. The recent Quiet Eon was a fine large stout and this one is also great; I'm glad to see another brewery in Seattle making fine stouts. The initial taste is feels somewhat laid back, reminding of the original base Hell Hawk. However, as the taste develops, the flavors come together into an excellent integrated whole. Clear notes of both bourbon and coconut, but lighter cocoa and vanilla meld with the bolder flavors. Coconut is deftly handled. Very nicely done and worthy as a sixth anniversary offering.