Rye Whiskey Barrel Aged Baumé
Half Acre Beer Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Served in a snifter at the tap room.

Missed out on this one when Local Option tapped it, so I jumped on it during my initial visit to the tap room with taiyed. It pours a very dark ruby-tinged black-brown topped by a finger of dark tan foam. The nose comprises whiskey, mild cocoa, dark chocolate, vanilla bean, and light buttercream. The taste brings in more of the same, nicely balancing the chocolatey flavors with those of the barrel. The body is a hefty medium, with a light moderate carbonation and a smooth feel. Overall, a nice, tasty stout, one that dealt very well with the barrel-aging.

Just had the 2012 vintage and it's a massive improvement. On-tap at Local Option. Served in a snifter.

A - Tan foam that settles to a wispy partial cap and thick collar, leaving a few stray fingers of lace. Mostly black body, although it was somewhat tough to tell in the low light.

S - Huge vanilla and light rye and oak notes. The barrel has taken over the base beer a bit, but otherwise this is quite nice. Some chocolate and roast mixed in. No obvious alcohol.

T - The taste has some intense vanilla as well, with notes of caramel and chocolate, and rye further in the periphery. None of the hops from Baumé have lasted through the barrel-aging process, but this also doesn't have the overly charry notes either.

M - Smooth medium body, pleasant lower carbonation, silky, with a clean finish. No appreciable alcohol.

D - Compare to the first attempt this is outstanding, although it's still merely middle of the pack for barrel-aged stouts. Nice to see Half Acre finally figuring out barrels. Definitely worth trying if you come across it around the city.

Old review from 11/10/2010
4.0/1.0/2.0/4.0/1.0
Had this on-tap at FoBAB. Listed as a "Chocolate Rye Stout aged in Heaven Hill rye whiskey barrels". Served in the obligatory taster glass.

A - Pours with a finger of tan foam that settles a think cap, leaving behind spotty lace. The body is a black, and reveals some dark brown at the fringes. It's a little darker than regular Baumé, but features worse retention and lacework.

S - Yikes! I'm not sure what happened here, but this smelled like a lovely blend of Elmer's Glue, acetone, and fresh paint. Mike joked that it reminded him of making hand turkeys in kindergarten.

T - This tastes almost as bad as it smells. There's a bit of coffee and roast in the finish, once you get past the horrible tartness and chemical flavors.

M - I manned up and drank enough to properly evaluate the feel. Smooth, medium body, with medium carbonation, and a little sticky finish. No over-carbonated like the base beer is in bottles.

D - I got through about 2oz before I started letting other festival-goers try it (to save them from wasting a ticket). I like Half Acre a lot, and while some of their beers haven't been my favorite, at least they've all been drinkable. I would have been embarrassed to send this to a festival. I know this was part of their first attempt at barrel-aging, but they should have just taken the loss and poured this one into the sewer.

 

On tap at half acre.

The smell is actually quite complex. I pick up notes of coffee, bourbon.

The taste changes as it warms and sits in my mouth and even the after taste changes. I pick up both sweetness from the bourbon and a strong bitterness from the coffee and rye. It's clomplex enough to be enjoyable and a slow sipping beer. It seems stronger than the 8 something % listed at the brewery. There's also a sharpness to the aftertaste, a bite that I usually associate with bourbon but that is fairly rare in beers.

 

 

 

 

On tap at FoBAB, so bad didn't evan want to tick it, then Alex has to go and add it...Light black with some decent tan head, nice cap and retention...The aroma is really bad, glue, medicinal, can't find anything that resembles a beer...The taste is just as bad, but I can pull out some bitter coffee, surrounded by glue.

This was a horrible mistake, don't make one by trying this.

On tap at FoBAB.

A: Served pitch black. No head, just a thin skim. Looked kind of lifeless in the glass.

S: Hard to pull much barrel aroma out of this one. Hints of chocolate and a touch of spicy grain.

T: Ouch. Pretty sure this was rocking some kind of infection. Solvents and sour berries.

M: Exceedingly thin. Quite watery, and like mentioned above, lifeless.

D: This couldn't be what they were going for with this, but strangely enough, it began to grow on me a little. Would like to try a full snifter of this sometime to re-evaluate.