Silver Series: Trinity in Black Bourbon BA
Pühaste Brewery

Got this from the Duvel guy in Utrecht. Cheers!

From a bottle into a snifter
Best Before 18 January 2027
Imperial Stout aged in Heaven Hill bourbon barrels
Collaboration with AF Brew and Zabovor

APPEARANCE: Pours out sludgy black and yields one finger, medium looking, dark mocha tan head with solid retention. Jet black body with higher levels of carbonation evident for the style. Head recedes to a solid half wisp and clings to the glass, with some bubbles streaming up the middle.

SMELL: Bold nose of bourbon and oak, with some spicy alcohol, roasted malts, pure chocolate, vanilla cream notes, some spicy cinnamon and tonka beans on the nose. Plenty of aroma on this one. Decadent stuff with plenty of tonka and cinnamon character.

TASTE: Cinnamon spice and tonka flavors, with some roasted malts, pure chocolate, vanilla cream, spicy bourbon and oak barrels up front. A decent hit of booze at the swallow. Bold finish of bourbon, oak barrels, pure, bitter chocolate, vanilla cream, tonka beans and some spicy cinnamon lingers nicely on the palate.

PALATE: Medium body and higher levels of carbonation. A little prickly on the palate, goes down prickly with a decent scratch and finishes somewhat sticky on the palate. Solid heat lingers.

OVERALL: This is really nice as well, much like the Brandy BA imperial porter. This has some nice barrel flavor with a beastly imperial stout base and some lovely tonka and cinnamon additions. The feel is a little prickly for my palate, but that’s a minor complaint, as the aroma and flavor more than make up for it. Highly recommend checking this one out, especially if you’re a fan of cinnamon barrel aged stouts. Well worth the ticket price. Cheers!

L- Pous dark and silent (suggesting high sugar?). 3mm ultra dark tan foam cap.
S- Liquor and cocoa.
T- Damn has this an instant heavy liquor note!!! Then mega cocoa, richness, touch sweet and back to liquor > cocoa etc.
F- It's rich and arguably sweet (glad I started it well chilled as it's way OTT to more than slow-sip). It's heavy and intense. The liquor has a real bite to it which many would regard as shouty.
O- Ok it's 13.5% which is pretty high but honestly I've had beers at 16, 17% ... +? beers and they have had far more subtlety than this. It's way OTT for me, in terms of over-statement. I'll try to finish it but mahn... I suggest this one might be good for sharing!
330ml bottle BB: 18/01/27 Batch: 434 bought from Trembling Madness in York, UK.

A - Pours a thick Ebony colour with a dark Beige head that stays around.
S - Massive aromas of wood and bourbon with sweet vanilla.
T - Oh Lord. Massive flavours of Vanilla, Coconut, bourbon, with a little booze, but so very smooth
M - Thick. Nothing else to say
O - Impressive as a BA stout as you will ever find.

Poured at fridge temp. Pours pitch black with brown head. The nose is insane. I immediately get tonka beans, cinnamon, chocolate, vanilla, black licorice, and coconut. I love it.

The taste is crazy. Super intense. Huge notes of dark bread, chocolate, tonka beans, coffee, cinnamon, vanilla, charred wood, and bourbon. The barrel is quite intense, which is great. The taste on this is absolutely incredible. Every sip makes me want another sip.

The mouthfeel is very thick and viscous. Incredible. The alcohol is detectable, but not overpowering. Overall, this is absolutely fantastic.

 

Brown foam with little persistence, absolute black body. Very greedy scent, cinnamon, caramel, butter biscuits, vanilla, chocolate, prunes and dehydrated cherries, coffee, bourbon.
On the palate the path is sweet and greedy as the olfactory sensations foretold, cheesecake, cinnamon, caramel, dehydrated dark fruit, chocolate. To appease this sweetness the toasted notes and a medium bitter and dry finish. The sip is embraced by a generous and warm ethyl tone that dries the sweetness of the drink. Full and soft body, low carbonation.

L: Jet black color, one finger brown head, excellent lacing, no visible carbonation.

S: Chocolate, cinnamon, bourbon, oak, alcohol.

T: Chocolate, cinnamon, bourbon, oak, alcohol.

F: Full bodied, full flavored. Hard to drink. A sloooooooow sipper.

O: Bomb imperial stout, not for the faint of heart.

 

Pours a pitch-black coloration with a medium, fluffy, dark-brown head that recedes quickly. Smells of slightly roasted, quite caramelly malt and strong notes of tonka and vanilla, as well as lighter chocolate, cinnamon, some oak and a certain boozy bourbon presence. Taste is an excellent balance of very slightly roasted, quite caramelly malt and more or less equally strong tonka, vanilla, chocolate, cinnamon and bourbon, with lighter accents of licorice and oak. Finishes with a light sweetness and some tonka, vanilla, cinnamon and chocolate lingering in the aftertaste. Full, creamy mouthfeel with a rich body and light carbonation.

Re-reviewing this, my impressions are quite different compared to me first review for some reason, with this feeling a lot better balanced than upon first review. It's interesting, not sure if there was a recipe change or external factors are to blame for this. In any case, this feels like a significant improvement over an already excellent brew, while my first impression was quite the opposite, with this feeling too sweet and boozy over the original brew. As I keep sipping on this, I can kinda see where I was coming from, but it really doesn't feel that bad anymore, with the barrel-aging adding a tremendous richness of character to this, mellowing out the strong spiciness of the original brew somewhat and really not feeling just too sweet and boozy at all. The tonka and cinnamon are still quite distinct here, with the bourbon barrel adding a wonderful, rich, warming presence and oaky highlights to this.