Big Snail
Jackie O's Taproom & Brewery

A dark black pour with insubstantial head throughout it pours like motor oil. Nose and taste are dominated by the bourbon barrel, honey, toffee, chocolate and vanilla.

Really nice and not too sweet which was surprising based on the flavor notes. Very pleasant mouthfeel as well. Highly recommended.

 

Big Snail from Jackie O’s. Received from their website. 12.7 fl oz capped bottle, price unrecorded. Reviewed 27/04/25 (Review 3516). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Undated bottle. Stored in at 39 degrees F at home; served at 57.2 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature is 64.4 degrees F.
Appearance – 4
First pour – Brown (SRM 20), nearly opaque.
Body – Brown (SRM 20), opaque. Under direct light, same, with heavy precipitate visible on the inside of the glass. When rear-lite, light penetrates only at the top edge, honey.
Head – None (Maximum zero cm, aggressive center pour). Fizzy head disperses almost instantly – before I can measure it. Carbonation produces a 0.05 cm broken bubble ring.
Lacing – None.
Aroma – 4 – Distinct bourbon, barrel, and honey when opened, sweet. The bourbon barrels quickly fade into the background, leaving honey as the dominating aroma. No yeast, no malt, no alcohol.
Flavor – 3.75 – Begins sweet with honey, but neither bourbon nor barrel appear. No yeast, no hops, no roasted malt. No alcohol (13.2 % ABV, according to the label). No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Mild gastric burning occurs.
Palate – 3.75 – Medium: syrupy: soft, barely noticeable, carbonation.
Style: Weakly follows the style guidelines as condensed by BA.
Final impression and summation: 3.75 (After deducting 0.25 point for an undated personal container) Uncredited label artist. Aroma is initially bourbon barrels, which quickly fades as it ages, leaving only honey. I’d consider this could be equally accurately described as a Braggot. Time to make a quick trip to the Islets of Langerhans to pick up a load of extra insulin.

Dark, almost black.
Oily but not overwhelmingly so.
Immediate notes of raisins, prunes, rum, spice, and some vanilla. It's pretty dominant on the raisins.

Very strong alcohol content, but it doesn't come across as overwhelming.

If you're into stouts, this is an excellent one to try.

L: Pours a rich chocolate, forming a thin russet head that fades quickly, leaving behind no lacing and a thin hint of khaki retention on top. Held to the light, this beer is an opaque dark walnut, maybe even umber, brew. Looks nutty.

S: Bourbon barrel, honey, dark roasted malts, hints of brown sugar, chocolate, and some vanilla. Faint traces of char and oak.

T: Bourbon, honey are first to hit the palette. Caramel, Toffee, roasted malts, oak, and char towards the finish. Decadent, lovely balance, somewhat bitter despite the honey marketing. Very strong stuff.

F: Fuller medium-bodied brew. Creamy and coating at the beginning, but a dryer finish. Silky texture.

O: Probably the best of the imperial stouts I've had from Jackie O's thus far. This beer really nails the AIS character - silky smooth, hefty ABV despite not being having an excessively boozy flavor. Plenty of bourbon barrel and oak, chocolate, and sweetness. Packs some heat in the finish too. Definitely worth another purchase.

12.7oz bottle poured into a Spiegelau stout glass at fridge temp 13.2% ABV. The beer pours dense very dark brown with light light penetration and meager medium brown colored head. The head recedes to a thin ring and tiny island. The aroma is moderate in strength featuring bourbon soaked fudge brownie with multiple presentations of chocolate from milk to dark. The taste is semisweet honey, bourbon, oak barrel, caramel, chocolate delight. Mild bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium plus bodied with just less that average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Alcohol is incredibly reclusive for the 13.2%. Just a bit of warmth in the finish. Overall, outstanding imperial stout.

12.7oz bottle, served in a snifter glass. Assuming a 2022 bottling, but no date on bottle.

Appearance: Very dark brown (almost black) letting no light through. Very thin tan ring of foam, no real lacing, but I'm not expecting much at 13.2% ABV.

Smell: Bourbon, floral honey (they were not kidding on the bottle), and some chocolate notes.

Taste: I'm definitely tasting a rich chocolate toffee, along with a light bourbon note, some vanilla, more toffee (a bit buttery at the finish) and a very light honey note.

Mouthfeel: Very thick and creamy - quite smooth. Warming from the alcohol with a lingering spicy finish.

Overall / Drinkability: Delightful! A nice sipping and savoring beer, quite potent, and very warming on a winter's evening. It would definitely benefit from being paired with a dessert. Well done.

very strong stout - not to my taste - loved mot of thir beers - visited their brew pum in athens, ohio great place friendly people

 

Bottled on: ?????

A - Dark brown pour.

S - Chocolate malt / chocolate cake and alcohol presence.

T - The chocolate and alcohol is accentuated even more on the palate. Chocolate malt base with some sweetness, and on the first few sips there's some chocolate cake mixed in. Along with the chocolate, there's a bit of spice and a very, very faint trace of honey. Bourbon presence and heat is on the pronounced side. Leaves a lingering toasted Bourbon cocoa.

M - Light syrupy and silky on the texture with heat in the back of the throat.

O - It's boozy, that's for sure. Complexity? Not alot of personality (IMO). Worth checking out? Your call.

Jackie O's hone focused Antik was one of the original kickstart beers that got me started on my journey. And I was beyond excited to see another honey offering in Big Snail. This guy is more focused on the amber side of the spectrum rather than clover sweet. Wood is the secondary note,coming through as soaked in whiskey and honey. The snail is heavily barrel focused and I loved it.

 

01/16/22 bottle @ home

12.7 ounce bottle, 2021 vintage. Served in a Jackie O's snifter, the beer pours dark brown/black with not quite an inch tan head that fizzled away somewhat quickly. Decent amount of lacing. I like the aroma, the brew smells like bourbon, honey, vanilla, dark chocolate and caramel. For the most part I think the taste is similar to the aroma, but with the addition of some oak, burnt/charred malt, toffee and some earthiness. Good amount of barrel character in both the aroma and taste. Mouthfeel/body is full, it's coating, rich and enjoyable to drink with a moderate amount of carbonation. I liked this barrel aged imperial stout, worth picking up if you get the chance!

From the bottle in a snifter. This monster pours a dark coal black
with a sizzling head of foam that leaves a thin ring. Nose of sweet honey,
char, bourbon, toffee, dark chocolate, and astringent booze with touches of
vanilla. Flavors hit their mark---dark chocolate, bourbon, anise, vanilla, oak,
balanced char, rich honey, toffee, and a peppery booze note. Excellent mouth
feel; full slick body, smooth, rich, coating, balanced, faint carbonation, and a
sweet bitter malt finish showing a deftness of balance.

Overall----Jackie O's.....Need one say more?????

Cheers

 

 

Look - Black Thick Syrup with slight skimming
Smell - Swett chocolate toffee smell
Taste - Sweet Chocolate toffee with a slight spice
Feel - Medium full body with a light carb
Overall - Pretty tasty

8 ball black with a short but dense khaki head that quickly dies off to a bubbly collar and fluid surface leaving few arms of lace.

A mature and uniquely complex expression, big barrel meets caramelized brown sugar that actually accents and enhances the hints of honey. This is all contrasted by bitter charred walnut and licorice that come out at the tail end. As it warms, a lightly milky quality emerges before the heat blooms on each sip, which then recedes into hints of maple.

The medium-light body has a fine, almost crackly carbonation that runs into a semi-sticky, numbing finish.

While their saison game has taken a major dive in the past year or two, at least they're still knocking these out of the park.