Barrel-Aged Imperial Oatmeal Stout
Trinity Brewhouse

 

Pours a one finger light brown head over a pitch liquid. Smells heavy and raw american oak with mild whiskey. Comes across as caramelly and mild vanilla and some cherry-like esters. Coffee and chocolate are way beneath. Detectable alcohol edge.

Tastes strongly of the wood. Hard to get through the raw character to find the vanilla and mild caramelly flavors. Some alcohol gives a whiskey-like character that's quite nice. Wet and notably sweet chocolate beneath. Any other malt flavors are lost to the dominant wood. Some creaminess of mouthfeel, perhaps from the oats, helps fight the oakiness. Without the malt-chocolate sweet, this beer would suffer greatly. Instead it's tolerable, but with great aging potential.