Barcode Blue (8719992492176)
Brouwerij De Moersleutel

 

Dark brown color with a small tan head, aroma of caramel, tonka, chocolate and bourbon, taste of caramel, tonka and bourbon, medium sweetness, soft carbonation.

Got this one from the Bierkoning in Amsterdam

From a 44cl can into a snifter
Bourbon barrel aged imperial stout with Tonka and Chocolate

APPEARANCE: Pours our clear black and yields a small, thin, medium looking dark tan head with lousy retention. Head quickly vanishes, leaving a faint wisp and ring only. Black body with no carbonation evident. A slight ring remains leaving touches of falling lacing down the glass as it empties.

SMELL: Big nose of bourbon barrel, some oak, vanilla and milk chocolate, brown sugar and molasses, some tonka aroma, as well as some boozy character as well. Big and menacing.

TASTE: Bourbon barrel, oak flavors, some tonka beans, sweet vanilla and milk chocolate with some boozy alcohol at the swallow. Big and flavorful. Bold finish of bourbon, sweet vanilla cream, milk chocolate, sweet molasses and brown sugar, some tonka beans, as well as hints of coffee and alcohol linger on the palate. This is purely delicious.

PALATE: Full body and low levels of carbonation. Silky and smooth on the palate, slick doing down with a bit of a burn and finishes very sticky on the palate. Some decent heat lingers.

OVERALL: Lovely. This is the best one so far. Sometimes tonka beans can be a fearsome foe, but in this case they are restrained, leaving room for the bourbon barrel to really be the star of the show. This is not a woody, boozy, harsh bourbon barrel though, as the nuances and flavors are really quite decadent here. This is wonderful stuff and is definitely worth getting lots more of if it’s still available. I might jump back in to the hunt here. Cheers!

Pours a pitch-black coloration with a small, fizzy, quickly dissipating head. Smells of strongly roasted, caramel malt, tonka and dark, bitter chocolate, with lighter notes of coffee, licorice and just a hint of dark fruits and bourbon-soaked oak. Taste follows the nose, being dominated by quite roasted, caramel malt and dark, bitter chocolate, as well as tonka bean, with that typical spiced up, woodroof-infused vanilla presence, as well as lighter notes of coffee, licorice, tobacco, dark fruit and just a hint of bourbon-soaked oak. Finishes with a medium bitterness and some roasted malt and tonka notes lingering in the aftertaste. Full moutheel with a rich body and light/medium carbonation.

An excellent BBA Imperial Stout that is quite strong on the roasted, bitter notes, as well as a strong, dark cocoa and tonka presence, which is just the way I like it, although this quite intense combination may not be for everyone. Still, there is a certain caramel sweetness for balance here, as well as some dark fruits, coffee and licorice adding some depth to this, complemeted nicely by a good bourbon and oak presence that shines through more as this warms.