Spirit Beast 2019
Jackie O's Taproom & Brewery

Look - great black thick with a nice than head and fantastic lacing
Smell - bourbon, vanilla, dark fruit... I believe I might be getting some chocolate and nut in there as well. Lots of great smells!
Taste - woody barrel with a dark fruit like a fig/raisin and a nice vanilla with some chocolate and nut
Feel - medium full body with a creamy light carb. Probably dropped due to age
Overall - pretty nice blend

 

 

12.7 ounce bottle, 2019 vintage. Served in a Jackie O's snifter, the beer pours dark brown/black with about a half inch tan head. Head retention and lacing are both decent enough. Aroma is nice, the brew smells like vanilla, bourbon, almond, dark fruit, brandy, coffee, and woodiness. Taste is similar to the aroma, but there's also the addition of some licorice, honey, burnt/charred malt and walnut flavors. It's a mostly sweeter tasting brew. Mouthfeel/body is medium/full, it's a bit slick and syrupy with a moderate amount of carbonation. I thought this was good overall, worth a try if you've never had it before. $11.99 a bottle.

 

Dark brown body, with tan foam that fades. Smell has strong ale booze with plenty of barley, brown sugar, soil, smoked and roasted malts, bourbon, licorice, char, lots of wood, and coffee, complex but powerful. Taste is much the same, a lot going on, but is rugged and formidable. Actually tastes boozier than it is. Much better as it warms where it brings in more toffee, brandy, licorice, leather and wood, to match up with the booze, malts, coffee, and earth. Feel has booze burn, but also thick and syrupy sweet malts.

 

 

 

 

Black with a surprisingly large, fluffy tan foam that settles slowly.

Smell is metallic red licorice almost exclusively. This is a very rare aroma I'm not sure I've experienced so potently out of a stout before, but the red licorice is distinct here. There are hints of pecan and milk chocolate far, far under a long whiff.

The smooth, slick medium-light body has a thin, light carbonation delivering cocoa almond and candied cherry with a sort of plum liqueur that gives off a stingingly hot, semi-dry finish that even brings out a bit of brandy.

This year's Spirit Beast is easily my least favorite, so much so that I'm not even really enjoying it very much. We need to go back to having more barleywine and quad in the mix--bring back the 2015 blend!