Barrel Aged Chocolate Macaroon Imperial Stout
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Very good. Definitely a desert beer. Reminds me of the sweetness level of southern tier creme Brule. A little but goes a long way

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Macaroon! I actually thought those were nuts. Beer taught me something this evening. 22 oz. bottle split with my wife.

The pour is blakk & borderline flat with a nose that could kill a diabetic at fifteen paces.

Barrel Aged Chocolate Macaroon is so sweet it’s making the wisdom teeth I had pulled thirty years ago hurt. This beer would be more accurately called “Milk Sugar with Sugar”. Perhaps my palate is shattered but I am surprised anyone can find anything but raw white sugar in this. No barrel. No chocolate. Certainly no macaroon or coconut. Thick. Three ounces would have been plenty.

Neither my wife nor myself is going to get through 11 ounces of this muck. I don’t recall what I paid for this but it was far too much. Bad, bad beer.

22oz bottle. No dating information found.
Black colored body. Shining light on body reveals a good show of rising bubbles. Creamy tan head, starting with a thick finger and settling to a thick cap.
Aroma is expansive, and redolent of rich chocolate fudge and macaroons.
Taste is high test, and features flavors of very sweet fudgy chocolate and coconut. The barrel adds a bit of berry. Cocoa in the aftertaste.
Medium thick mouth feel, with a real coating after each sip. Carbonation is evident but not really part of the show. High ABV% does not burn, but makes itself known.
Quite a bit going on, with the sweet nature, the fudge, the coconut; all work to make this beer taste like a macaroon cookie. Oak barrel adds another layer of flavors and prevents the sweetness from totally taking over. Takes some time to drink, and this allows more enjoyment of the components that lead to the totality.

Good head production and decent retention given the ABV, barrel aging, and additives. Beautifully dark body.

Absolutely huge aroma, wafting over from several feet away with notes of fudge, bourbon, and coconut. Up close, it's decadently sweet, imparting additional aromas of coffee, molasses, dough, syrup, sugar, red grape, pecan. Unbelievably rich.

No less rich and sweet on the palate - a true dessert beer. Really nails the macaroon flavor, as well - it's not as thick as a pastry stout, but it has the same kind of flavor profile. Despite that, the barrel character still comes through, reminding you that although this tastes like a cookie, it's still a big, boozy, BBA imperial stout.

Up front, notes of chocolate, toffee, oak, bourbon, and coffee; stronger bourbon moving toward mid-sip, along with red grape, before the coconut and malt base combine into a true cookie flavor: doughy and sugary. As the sugar fades, the back third of the beer comes along boozy, hot (but not unpleasantly so), and bitter, with light char, coffee, oak, more bourbon, a touch of slightly sour grape, leather, and light tannins. The aftertaste is a bit of a letdown, actually, as once the sugar has faded, the contrast to the oaky and almost dull bitterness is sharper than in a more traditional BBA imperial stout - but that's a fairly minor criticism.

Mouthfeel is a touch thinner than I'd prefer, although I'd still say it qualifies as full bodied. The boozy heat I described in the flavor isn't particularly aggressive; while it's noticeable, you can still savor the sip. That's where the thinness costs the beer a bit: I'd love to be able to really chew on it, drawing out the flavor. Again, another minor criticism.

Overall, this is a delicious dessert beer, and really delivers on the premise. My biggest complaint is that sharp contrast between the middle and back thirds, when the sugar drops off and you're left with a bitter, oaky finish. The drop off is so much sharper than in any other BBA imperial stout I've had. It's not enough to make the beer bad, or even less than delicious, but it is the strongest criticism I have, and does make it less impressive than it otherwise would have been.