Oil of Aphrodite (Bourbon Barrel-Aged w/ Coffee)
Jackie O's Taproom & Brewery

2020 12oz bottle poured gingerly cellar temp to a Glencairn glass. Color is solid oil black. Barely any head other than a pencil-thin carbonated penumbra around the glass circumference. Nose is very dominant bourbon, mild candi sugar, and charred oak barrel when you take a big inhale. No black walnuts on the nose, which may be from it being a 2020? First sips follow the nose, with the bourbon being very hot up front, akin to a DFH WWS, where another five or ten years might be needed to mellow that out a bit. The black walnut comes in a little on the mid palate, more subdued again than my expectation. It does give quite a drying quality, wine-like in action, not the flavor. Or, like when you eat black walnuts or walnuts, you get that dry finish on your tongue. The alcohol hits hard and fast...not unexpected for 13.5%, but there is no grace period for this one. Mouthfeel is full, with a good linger and the drying effect mentioned earlier. Tiny sips bring the bourbon and dryness to the fore, but a big mouthful brings in more of the candi sugar along with that. Overall, it’s excellent. It’ll be interesting to see what some time on a shelf does to it.

 

 

 

375 ml bottle into a snifter. 2019 edition, had 12/29/19.

Pours a dark brown, mostly opaque, with a quarter inch head and specks of sticky cling. Aromas of coffee, roasted malt, light bourbon, caramel, chocolate, some tobacco, some cocoa, a fairly strong nutty smell from the walnuts. Smells great. More bourbon in the flavor, then coffee, chocolate, malt, cocoa, light caramel and vanilla, less walnuts than the nose. Smooth, fairly dry, a very good full body, well carbonated.

The coffee and bourbon are the stars, the walnuts boost the aroma. Lots of good aromas and flavors. Really enjoyable.

Poured from a 500ml bottle into a low tulip glass.

Look is a pitch black with a thin tan head that dissipates quickly.

Aroma is strong bourbon with a hint of coffee.

Taste is sweet malt with a hint of vanilla bourbon.

Oil of Aphrodite is a great beer from Jackie O's. This version is barrel aged and conditioned on coffee. The beer was surprisingly mild. The coffee is strong on the nose but missing in the taste. This one runs a bit flat overall.

The base beer is a better option, or Oro Negro which is a world class beer.

@firesidewithphil

 

 

 

Inky black body with virtually no head save some brown bubbles. Big coffee, dark chocolate fudge, whiskey bitters, bourbon booze, wood, nuts, char and vanilla in the nose. Taste hits the coffee, wood, and bourbon powerfully, but afterward whimpers in comparison with the nuts, vanilla, chocolate and char. Want more balance there, but the flavors that do star do so very purely. Feel is boozy, with sharp coffee and solid wood backing, and malts o plenty, but again thins out like the taste after the ferocious entrance. Still delicious, but better options out there for a go to option

 

Pours like the ne-dark, thick, sticky lacing. Smell is woody boozy bourbon and dark malt and coffee. Taste is malty, strong bitter coffee, and a bourbon background. Big bodied, bold, boozy, thick and oily. Great from the first taste to the end.

2019 Vintage

Pours a glossy jet-brown body with deep mahogany hues at the edges and capped with around a finger of fluffy deep khaki foam; decent retention for a stout of its ABV, with a spotty few islands of paper-thin cap and dense, frothy collar left behind; a generous spatter of lasting, webby lacing clings to the glass.

Aromas of chocolate cake batter, baker's chocolate, and chocolate malt fly from the glass upfront (a chocolate bomb, for sure), with lighter tones of almond and ground coffee interwoven within; underlying toffee, vanilla cream, oak, and peanut brittle course through the backdrop.

Taste brings baker's chocolate, emptied bourbon barrel, slightly acrid coffee grounds, and cherry pits for a bit less sweetness than the bouquet; an overarching boozy presence encumbering the profile softens as the beer sits before smoothing into an oaky, cake batter-esque finish.

Mouthfeel features a fluffy medium body with a pillowy puff of moderate carbonation upfront that quickly dissipates on the palate to a mild, semi-bitter malty char and slick texture; minor boozy warmth comes through on the back end, intercepting an otherwise creamy-smooth finish.

Jackie O's has shown me a deft touch in producing stouts on the sweeter side without verging into outright pastry territory, and this is yet another highly competent example. Vivid malty tones render the added coffee a vague subtlety while a slight booziness persists across the profile, and yet the brew's friendlier sweetness and rounded feel prove key balancing factors to what is ultimately a sturdy, satisfying BA stout that has me drawing comparisons to a boozer KBS.

Released 8/16/19; drank 11/9/19 @ the Yarchives.

Black appearance.

An even pour yielded a nice tan head; decent lace.

Chocolate syrup, dark roast coffee bean & mild oak notes in the nose.

Medium thick mouthfeel.

Chocolate syrup & mild bourbon flavors up front; dark roast coffee bean & mild oak notes on the finish. Mild booze heat emerged as this warmed.

A substantial coffee stout; I'd have another!

A - Pours a dark brown-black body, mostly transparent, light tan head, minimal, with a bit of lacing.

S - Strong boozy hit of bourbon vanilla and wood, coffee notes below.

T - Follows the nose of boozy chocolate and vanilla in the start, with a middle introducing some nuttiness, and a pungent acidic bite couples with a mild bitterness, a full expression of coffee through the close.

M - Prickly acidity in the open, moderate weight, and a lingering slick aspect in the finish.

O - I cannot say this is my favorite bourbon stout, but it is a well built acidic coffee stout, and I like it.

 

 

 

Pours black with a finger of khaki foam. Head retention is good. Aroma is rich and decadent roasty, toasty, and caramely malts with coffee - kept at a medium-roast with an expressive, and lightly dark body - with chocolate and toffee. Bourbon kicks in at the midway point and comes on strong until the finish, with the only reprieve from bourbon being a light hit of barrel char at the finale. Really sharp dynamics. Flavor profile is roasty, toasty and caramely malts throughout. Over the malts, lingers medium-bodied, lightly fleshy coffee with toffee, molasses and caramel beyond. Bourbon is much more subtle here, adding a kiss of heat to the back-end, with light char and barrel character rounding out the finish. It's heavy and dark forward with oodles of coffee that finishes with a teasing kiss of heat - lovely. Mouth feel is thick with a grainy, particulate feel that adds a little additional depth and presence to each sip. Overall, roasty and heavy stout up front with coffee and bourbon that come on later. It maintains a lovely dynamic throughout, balancing out the heavy front end with the hot back-end.

Served in a 15.5oz Speigalau tulip from a 375mL bottle.