Votive (No. 1)
Fox Farm Brewery

 

Huge thanks to Mkozaka for this bottle. I've been saving it for nearly a year, and I think a 300th review suits it. I have 100th, 500th and 1000th beer review beers, but this seems like a nice 300th review beer. Without further adieu...

500ml bottle - 2019 batch no.1 - poured into a snifter at 55F.

Pours the blackest black I have ever seen. Most crazy black beers are at least a little brown on the pour, but not this. Pours black as night and sits black as night. A finger of mocha head builds up, forming large, attractive bubbles, and stays around for a surprising length of time before slowly deflating to a big, thick brown collar of foam. Still, silent, and blacker than death.

Nose: Right from the start, this has a powerful presence. Rich, roasty malt lending tons of chocolate, a hint of coffee, molasses, brown sugar, you name it. All the usual imperial stout suspect. Bourbon barrel is strong, and it's the strongest of the three barrels. Very classic bourbon barrel notes of caramel, vanilla, butterscotch, oak, toffee, dark fruit, hazelnut, and char. I am getting a subtle maple sweetness, but it leans more sweet than maple. As for the port, there is an extremely faint earthy red berry note that makes me think tawny port was used, rather than ruby port. Though the bourbon dominates heavily, this is an incredible smelling barrel-aged stout. I can't wait.

Palate: What a unique beer. I've spent a couple of minutes with it now, and I'll continue to sip while looking for notes, but let's begin. Like the barrel-aged stouts I personally prefer, it has a very nice dose of sweetness. Sweet and chocolatey, like a mouthful of both milk and 75% dark chocolate. The maple actually emerges, and giant hard to fine. I almost never spot the maple in beers that claim to have it, but it's clearly here, and it accentuates the sweetness and viscosity. The port - oh man, the port. I didn't really spot it in the aroma, but it's one of the first things to jump out. It could be tawny, I quite expected it to be tawny, but now I'm beginning to think it could very well be ruby. It has the earthiness I'd generally associate with tawny port, or a dry red wine cask finish, but the finish just screams ruby port. Whoops, spoiler alert. So we get sweet roasted malt, with lots of molasses, dark brown sugar, vanilla, caramel, toffee, and only mild to moderate roastiness, then maple and bourbon characteristics come in spades, with an easy-to-spot (likely ruby) port influence. I do think there are some buttering hops used in this - not a lot, but enough to give a subtle hint of earthy resins, and contribute a little bit of bitterness, perhaps making up for the lack of roasty char - a quality I'm happy to pass on. That bitterness reaches its peak near the finish, but enough sweetness remains to where it really doesn't become a dry or bitter beer. The maple is the first component to fade, along with much of the sweetness, while that bitterness increases proportionally the sweeter, fruitier elements of the port fall back, revealing more earthy characteristics. Finally, the bitterness quickly disappears, and the bourbon influence prevails, lasting long into the finish with a classic barrel aged stout profile - vanilla, oak, butterscotch, just lingering on, and on, and on.


There's a bit of warmth, especially going down, and maybe even more than one would guess from 11%ABV.

Mouthfeel/Body: Don't let that 11% ABV fool you...This beer has some heft. I had braced myself for a thin feel, and wad pleasantly surprised to find that this beet has some very nice viscosity. A nice thick, full greeting, with lots of weight, and a little bit of chew. It isn't the thickest, chewiest, most viscous stout in the world, but no one in their right mind would call it thin. Feels like a nice big barrel-aged imperial stout. Effervescence is actually on the livelier side for the style. It certainly isn't spritzy, but it's far away from flat.

Overall: This is a really unique take, and I think it's masterfully crafted. They took some serious chances with those aging barrels, and I don't think it could have turned out a lot better. The bourbon influence is perfect, the maple influence doesn't require searching for, bit remains a balanced contributor, and the port adds a whole extra layer of jazz. It isn't like Napa Parabola, in the sense that the wine isn't nearly as earthy, and it's way more balanced, thanks to the bourbon and sweet maple. The body is spot on, the flavour is unique, balanced, and complex, and it's a big step in the right direction for wine cask aged beer. Very well done.

 

 

This one pours with a very dark black hue, with a small creamy head, and not much lacing.

There's a lot of earthy and herbal flavors on the nose - tobacco and leather, mostly, with bittersweet port, dark fruit, bittersweet maple, roasted malt, oak, and coffee.

The port barrel is quite strong here, adding bit notes of leather, dried fruit, and tobacco. I'd want a bit more fruitiness from it, but it's still tasty. There's a little bit of maple, adds a light sweetness. There's both dark and milk chocolate, as well as a clean roast character. There's lots of oak as well.

This is nicely full bodied and creamy, with a layered mouthfeel - bitter (but clean up front) and slightly sweet on the finish.

This is incredibly complex, and pretty delicious.

Pours pitch black, impervious to light, minimal tan head. Big chocolate aroma that is masked by an even larger yeast aroma☹️
Flavor is chocolate, fudge, the yeast is too prominent unfortunately. The maple sweetness comes through, as does the wine treatment, both in a good way. Some brown sugar and tobacco mix in with a nice dose of coffee on the finish. Pretty full bodied with a nice oily texture. 11% abv is well hidden - dangerously drinkable. Minimal micro carbonation adds to a creamy mouthfeel. Overall a great idea with the multiple barrel treatments, I wish the yeast flavor was not as noticeable.

7/17/19
500 ml bottle - thanks Adam!
4.25 rating

5/16/20 update
2019 vintage, this one tastes much better. Yeast aroma is not as prominent, fantastic chocolate flavor, maple barrel very noticeable. Delicious. Thanks again Adam.

Sampling a cellar temp bottle poured into my snifter. Picked up at the brewery for me by my good friend Melissa. Thank you!
The beer pours a jet black color with no light showing through my glass. A dense creamy brown head foams up 2.5 CM and very slowly fades to a thick surface layer. Foam looks almost milky or latte in character and remains throughout my sampling.
Aroma is rich and malty with brown sugar, a little bourbon and maple notes as well. Fairly sweet nose and it covers a bit of a roasted malt presence and actually a little bit of a raw tobacco scent. NO hops that I can detect and the 11% is absent for me on the nose.
First sip reveals an average to thick body with mild spacious carbonation that gently rolls across my palate with each swallow.
Flavor is rich and bold with malty flavors of dark chocolate, roasted malt, and some burnt tobacco or charred wood. I also get mild bourbon on the finish too and a little sweet maple note on the swallow. But again no hop profile and the 11% is dangerously well hidden.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable and complex malt forward and dangerous imperial stout. Very glad I have a second bottle of this treat!

 

Pours one shade shy of black with a tight, mocha-colored head that dissipates into a consistent skim. Pleasant nose - notes of maple syrup and cocoa. Taste consistent with nose with the addition of a nice whisky presence. Mouthfeel is light-medium in body with a mild, even carbonation and a slight oiliness to the texture. Overall, well-crafted. A nice barrel presence and the beer evolves nicely as it warms.

 

on tap:
i would have this every Friday at 2pm if I could. multi-barrel projects appear to be working well over here. immediately got a maple sweet coffe flavor...once warmed sweet char. medium feel...minimal booze. i cant pick out exactly what barrel does what but there’s a lot of flavor and there’s not much to compare this to. This was unique and well done, Fox Farm.

These guys are incredible.. outside of HF these guys are next in line, great place, great brewers!

On tap at Fox Farm. Pours a very dark brownish black with an inch of dark brown head. The aroma seems to be mostly dominated by the Port Barrel. Some Bourbon, vanilla and earth as well. Lots of lacing. The taste is waaaay smoother than expected by the alcohol heat in the nose. The sweetness of the maple syrup nicely mellows out the Bourbon and Port but still leaves both of the respective barrel notes. Earth, roasted malts and maybe a hint of dark chocolate. All 3 barrels work well here and make up most of the taste. Vanilla, bourbon and wood at the finish with a bit more Port in the background. Medium body with low carbonation.