Sunless Sea
Jackie O's Taproom & Brewery

Jackie O’s creates another masterpiece. Aged in whiskey casks for 19 months after being brewed on New Years Eve 2018, the stout has been conditioned with vanilla beans, almonds, cardamom, cinnamon and coriander.

The flavors mesh perfectly and create a work of art. Sip and ponder the flavor. If you fear the cardamom, don’t worry. It is present but adds to the complexity. The whiskey is present but not a slap across the face.

This beer is now my highest rated beer. A must buy if seen. I will seek more.

 

 

 

 

 

12 oz bottle, poured into a Speigelau stout glass at ~40 degrees F and allowed to warm during consumption.

L: Pours your typical stout inky black, and forms roughly half a finger of ecru head with okay retention. Eventually fades to nothing, not even a ring.

S: Spice and chocolate leap out of the glass, heavy cardamom and sweetness. Mild dark bread notes underlie.

T: The spice melange hits right up front, with plenty of cardamom and cinnamon, then gives way to a cocoa, coffee and cream, vanilla, dark bread malt base. The brown sugar sweetness surges in late, and dominates the finish. Some ABV heat lingers in the aftertaste as well.

F: Full, thick, and creamy.

O: An interesting spiced stout. Jackie O's knows their stuff.

12/29/21 bottle @ home

 

Poured from a bottle into a pint glass.

Appearance: Sunless, indeed. Opaque, and with no head.

Smell: Very strong perfume of cardamom, with some cinnamon underneath. Little malt character.

Taste: The ingredients list promises complexity, and it delivers. Burnt sugar, whiskey oak, cardamom, vanilla bean, and some milk chocolate. Sweet but not overly so. Booze well hidden. Cardamom gets tiresome after a while.

Feel: Heavy and warm, lightly carbonated. Whiskey aging on the finish.

Look - Black with a very very slight head that goes away quick qith really no skimming
Smell - Very slight spice with more vanilla caramel wood
Taste - Vanilla, chocolate, caramel, woody with a slight spice in the back
Feel - Medium body with a nice creaminess and slightly boozy
Overall - pretty tasty different beer

 

 

Just way too busy of a stout, lacks identity besides overly floral spiced and sweet. Pours medium black, light brown head. Aromas of cardamom, cinnamon, tea, vanilla, whiskey that has a stupid sweet mash. Taste is a saturated bomb of all the adjuncts, again just too much, overwhelms the palate, not enjoyable or accessible. Feel is medium to light bodied, busied by the spices and lacks barrel character. Hard pass, a mess

 

Served from the bottle in a Phase Three snifter.

So much Coleridge, so little time... Anyway, this stuff pours a straight obsidian topped by maybe a finger of sandstone foam. The nose comprises roasted malts, cardamom, light black tea leaves, light cocoa powder, and mild molasses. The taste lulls you into a false sense of security with some roast, some barrel, a bit of vanilla, and a hint of spices. Things then take a turn for the surreal when cardamom storms in, bazookas a-blazin', scorching the earth as it speeds toward oblivion. What once was a grand empire has sunken into the abyssal depths of chaos. More like "Ozymandias" than "Kubla Khan". The body is a hefty medium, with a light moderate carbonation and a fluidly full feel. Overall, there was just too much going on here for the beer's own good. This is especially clear when the cardamom decided to make any postmortem into a war crimes tribunal. Just makes me wanna shake my head a bit...

 

I haven't had a new Jackie Os in a while. Picked up Sunless Sea in Ohio and gave it a go. This was an experimental stout with tea added. A lot of breweries released tea infused beers this past season. Unfortunately, I struggled with all the tea beers including this one. It is not too strong but it is just tough to continue on.

IG: @firesidewithphil

Released 11/27/20; drank 2/26/21 @ the Yarchives.

Black/brown appearance.

A rough pour yielded a minimal tan head; almost no lace.

Root beer, cardamom, whiskey, vanilla & black tea notes in the nose.

Medium thick mouthfeel.

This tastes like an old fashioned with notes of vanilla, black tea & cardamom added.

Overall, too much going on. It's interesting but one's enough.