Oil of Aphrodite - Bourbon Barrel-Aged
Jackie O's Taproom & Brewery

Standard pour yields no actual head, rather just a slight to moderate dark khaki collar that audibly fizzes away... Color is a sleek inky black... Huge inviting nose of molasses, dark fruits and dark desert breads... Some cocoa and roasted malt lingers beneath the surface... Palate is as anticipated with the added complexity of the oak bourbon barrels and a faint nuttiness... Tons of depth and complexity with each and every sip... Feel is in the lighter side of full bodied... Sleek, elegant and exceedingly smooth... Just the slightest touch of carbonation... A killer beer that shines in almost all categories... A bit more in terms of appearance would put this in elite company... As is it is still world class...

L: Pours a dark chocolate, forming no appreciable head or lacing. Oily syrup, completely still and devoid of activity. Held to the light, the darkest possible hue of brown, near-black. Opaque.

S: Strong scent of bourbon barrel when poured. Held to the nose, strong bourbon followed by notes of roast malt, vanilla, and walnut. As it warmed, aromas of chocolate and sweet syrup emerge.

T: Follows nose - plenty of bourbon. Boozy on the front. Walnuts and dark fruit, as well as vanilla, caramel, and candied sugar. The sweetness is balanced against roasted malts and hints of char and leather on the back end. As the beer warms, walnuts and chocolate become more pronounced and the finish is more sweet than astringent.

F: Full-bodied. Thick, velvety, and chewy mouthfeel. Warming to drink. Slight carbonation.

O: Pretty good entry from Jackie O's. The 2023 version is a 12.5% ABV, which is sneaky high considering how drinkable the beer is. Worth it.

 

 

6/14/23 27th Anniversary trip (for beer for sure!) Jackie O's Public House, Athens, OH

Aroma is vanilla with sweet meat of pecan and bourbon. Leah can maybe get walnut in there.

Taste is..... WOW! Bourbon first! Sweet walnut. Maple. Alcohol burn. Can i get the Belgian candi? I can, only because it was pointed out on the description.

YUMMY warmer !

2023-06-04
375ml bottle served in a WABL sample glass. This bottle says it's 12.5%, and doesn't appear to have a date other than 2023. Got it from @ozzylizard in NBS BIF #17. Probably serving it a bit too cold, it'll warm up as I slowly review and drink this.

Pours opaque black-brown with zero head on the pour, and just the scantiest ring and dusting across the surface that you can imagine. Smell is booze and roast, an echo of vanilla and sweetness.

Taste is pretty hot -- lots of booze, a lot of barrel character overall, vanilla and wood and char. Some dark molasses sweetness, I don't get anything directly nutty but there is something that makes me think of roasted nuts.

Mouthfeel is thick, chewy, a little sticky, rich, satisfying. Overall, this is a very good beer.

Enjoyed an 8 oz pour of the 2023 edition at the Public House while visiting 5-24-23 for $9.00.

Beer was served black as night with a very nice tan head.

Nose was bourbon forward with notes of leather and vanilla.

Taste follows the nose as the 20 months in wet barrels gives a dominating bourbon presence with the initial sips. Notes of leather, dark fruit, and vanilla are in the background.

Mouthfeel is full bodied and each sip is very smooth.

Overall an excellent BB stout. I am shocked to say this but this brew could benefit with some aging to let the barrel notes better develop over 12-24 months. Glad i have a bottle in my vault!

Pours an expected dark brown with reddish tinges, settling into an almost black color once in the glass. Thin, short-lived head. First sniff of the beer overwhelmed me with booze, but as my nose adjusted (and from a few inches farther away), it was more nuanced, with hints of maple syrup and chocolate (but still plenty of booze)

Taste is pretty similar to the nose. Plenty of booze and clear bourbon barrels. No syrup or walnuts, but there is some nice roast that I'm enjoying. I'm a bit surprised that the walnuts don't present themselves, but then again, I haven't had many beers brewed with them, so maybe they are what's behind the light roasty bitterness I'm getting. Feel is a little thinner than expected, but it coats the palate well. Overall, good beer.

 

 

Good barrel aged stout.

Oil of Aphrodite Bourbon Barrel (2022) from Jackie O’s. Received from brewery 02/02/22. $ 15.82 (Including tax and shipping)/12.7 oz bottle ($1.246/oz). Stored at 37 degrees at home. Reviewed 27/06/22. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
“2022” on label, otherwise undated bottle. Served at 57.0 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King Snifter. Final temperature 61.3 degrees.
Appearance – 3.5
First pour – Amber Brown (SRM 18), clear.
Body – Brown (SRM 30), opaque. When rear-lite, opaque with light penetration at the edges - amber.
Head – Small (Maximum 0.7 cm, aggressive center pour), copper, high-density and fizzy, no retention, diminishing to a 0.1 to 0.2 cm ring of tiny bubbles, and no cap.
Lacing – None.
Aroma – 3.5 – Weak bourbon. No hops, no yeast, no detectable walnuts.
Flavor – 3.5 – Begins with mild bourbon and some light walnut flavor and bitterness. No ethanol (13.5 % ABV as marked on label) aroma or taste. Mild gastric warming. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Ends tasting like almost every other BBA impy stout.
Palate – 4 – Medium, creamy, weak carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 3.75. Overall, not a bad impy stout, just a bit weak in the walnut department.

2022 bottling, 12.7oz bottle, 13.5% ABV, served in a snifter glass.

Appearance: Pitch black with a very dark brown head upon pouring, and the head died back to a ring at the side with an occasional island of lacing that would slowly slide back down the glass.

Smell: Walnuts, bourbon, toffee, tiny bit of pine.

Taste: Tastes a lot like it smells, with definite walnut and bourbon whiskey notes, combined with vanilla, the Belgian candi sugar for sweetness, and some light bitterness for a finish, where the walnuts mixed in with some char/roasted malts come lingering back mixed in with the mild hop bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Very smooth, creamy thick, very light carbonation, warming from the higher ABV.

Overall / Drinkability: Very delightful and dangerous. The alcohol was noticeable very early on. Quite a powerful beer, but a great one for sipping and savoring. It's quite nice how all the flavors stick out and don't get overwhelmed by the bourbon barrel aging, which seems to have brought higher alcohol content, but not overwhelmed all the other flavors. Well done.

 

 

 

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

L: Pours your typical stout impenetrable black, and forms absolutely no head whatsoever even with a vigorous pour.

S: Cold, this smells of oaky-vanilla boozy barrel notes and more than a hint of chopped walnut. As it warms, not much changes - those two scents remain strong, and are joined by a hint of chocolate.

T: Cold, this is quite barrel-heavy, with loads of tannic oak, boozy caramel, and vanilla. There are hints of chocolate and some walnut manifests by the swallow and lingers in the aftertaste. As it warms, the barrel recedes slightly, allowing some chocolate and raisin to peek through, and the walnuts to appear earlier. Hints of leather and plum can be found here and there as well. The ABV remains quite noticeably warm.

F: Full and thick. Almost foldable.

O: I do like this version a bit more than the base Oil, which isn't exactly a slouch of a stout.

 

Look - great black and thick with a nice tan head and lacing
Smell - walnut roasted malt chocolate caramel barrel
Taste - slight nutty chocolate slight caramel roasted malt and wood
Feel - medium full body with a light carb
Overall - really tasty nutty ba stout