Spirit Beast 2018
Jackie O's Taproom & Brewery

Spirit Beast by Jackie O's Brewery
Bevis Maun is drinking a Spirit Beast by Jackie O's Brewery

That maple, that maple, bourbon coming through, molasses, raisins

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12.7 FL. OZ. bottle
Served in a Jackie O's snifter

This beer pours black and is topped with a skim of tan head that leaves little lacing.

The smell is marshmallow, caramel, and walnuts. I also get vanilla, booze, and chocolate. There is even a little fig and browns sugar.

In the taste I get chocolate, vanilla, and caramel. The alcohol is hidden. It has a dessert-like flavor to it.

Full bodied with a slick, viscous mouthfeel

This is a delicious beer. It is complex and easy drinking. The abv will kick your behind though.

 

 

 

Yields a dark brown color with a small beige spider web lacing.

Smells of wild honey, molasses and toffee malts among a profound bourbon barrel presence, which inherits a well rounded spice profile, as well as a multi layered chocolate flavor.

Has silk mouthfeel, almost still, showcasing its decadent body in a pleasant, warming way.

Tastes of caramel covered toffee malts, together with an initial hint of bakers chocolate, molasses and wild honey. Develops a rather profound, well entangled hoppiness afterwards, with a boozy, syrupy peak cutting through, adding a decent complexity to this. Finishes strong on the barrel with a prominent bourbon bite and a fudgy edge to it, together with an everlasting note of caramel.

Pleasantly complex barley wine, with a nice boozy edge to it.

Pours a deep, dark brown, almost black coloration with a small, thin, fizzy head. Smells of caramel malt, dark fruits, brown sugar and toffee. Taste is quite sweet and boozy, being dominated by caramel malt, toffee, molasses, brown sugar and dark fruits: fig, date, raisin. with lighter notes of vanilla, chocolate, coffee and charred oak. Finishes sticky sweet, with notes of dark fruit lingering in the aftertaste. Smooth mouthfeel with a medium body and low carbonation.

While this is quite complex, the whole balance is heavily skewed towards sweeter elements, which works in terms of an internal consistency but is just way too sweet and sticky for my personal taste. Generally reminds me a lot more of a Barleywine than a Stout, although it has those slight notes of chocolate and coffee as well. Although it's quite boozy, it doesn't really have distinct bourbon character to it, leaning more heavy towards barrel notes of vanilla and oak.

Description: Very dark brown appearance, bordering on black, with a small amount of khaki head and lacing. The smell is predominantly sweet with strong hints of oak and bourbon. Dark fruits - pine, cherry, dates - can all be detected and lead to a complex aroma. More similar to a quad than what you might expect from a stout or barleywine. The taste is similar to the smell in that it is rich, sweet and oaked. Additionally there are hints of bitterness but in a dark chocolate sort of way, not hoppy. Altogether, the taste is complex and good. Very good. Feel is soft, fluffy and smooth, like a comforter on my tongue, but much better since the comforter is made out of beer.

Overall: 4.5 (This beer is very good and I would definitely drink it again) The label on this beer recommends that it be enjoyed at room temperature. So, for the first time I intentionally drank a beer at room temperature. And I mean, real room temperature, not trying to get it to "55 degrees" or just opening the bottle cold and waiting a few minutes to enjoy it. My feedback on that experiment is, "whoa...". I don't know what it's like cold, but it was outstanding at room temperature. This is another full-bodied, dark beer that Jackie O's crushed. Highly recommend this if you have an opportunity.

 

 

 

Looks remarkably thin. Barrel aged "strong ale" water.

Smell is relatively muted. Faintly roasted malts, syrupy sugar, young barrel proof grain whiskey.

Taste is very hot and a bit undefined. Alcohol is hands down the most forefront flavor. Underneath that there really is not a lot going on... it's as if a 4.2% guinness draught got barrel aged and blended with a session barelywine and then the whole thing got spiked with everclear.

M - Absolutely no substance to this.

Overall - nope.

 

 

 

Dark brown body with ruby edges, almost cola-like. The small off white head disapears quickly leaving a very faint ring around the glass.
The aroma is wood, bourbon and char. Lots of roasted malts come through but with hints of dark stone fruit.
Very complex and forward but layered in the taste. Dark roasted malts. Raisins and dates. Wood and bourbon from the barrel. A little charred and a little nutty. The stout comes in towards the end with a coffee and dark chocolate presence, along with a hint of hops.
Lighter in body and mouth feel than I would have thought but definately medium+. Lower in carbonation but enough to insure the beer isn't heavy.