Barrel Aged Selene
Mortalis Brewing Co.

Thanks to micada for this 500ML bottle topped with red wax. My first BA stout from Mortalis was transcendent, so I’m hoping for more of the same.

Black. The nose is cherry Nyquil, in a good way.

Selene – Port Barrel Aged brings more subtlety to the game than expected. The port brings soft, tannic cherry to the beer from what I presume is a tawny port. Dark, grade A maple syrup follows, thick & sweet & chewy. There’s a gentle exhalation of booze, & not in the neighborhood-brewpub-drunk-is-too-close kind of way, but nice, gentle. Drinks lighter than the ABV; 500ML ain’t no thing.

Very good beer that’s lightly touching the ceiling of excellence.

From notes Had on tap at MB on 7/30/22. Another beautifully brewed MB BAIS. Dark black/faint ruby accents to light, and tan halo head resolution.
Heavy/ rich nose and taste ( maybe too much)
Strong port/winey threads noted more so in taste.
Sweetness from maple syrup, caramel and light vanilla come through nicely, and meld well with base malt and port.
Full typical MB body with slight carbonation. A bit tannic.
Overall a very well crafted and enjoyable stout if maybe a bit heavy handed/ over barreled. Just not quite up to my Mortalis favorites.

Great Mortalis viscosity on the pour; brown head of foam settles in thin ring.

Nose with notes of chocolate covered raspberry, vanilla, & caramel apple.

Palate hits initially with a tart, tannic punch, but the flavors develop beautifully. Toasted caramel, Bordeaux cherries, raspberry jam, and tailing with mildly dry spiced rum.

Body is medium-full, lightly tannic, with a warming, subtly bitter tail. I like that the sharpness from the 14% is abundantly noticeable.

Heavily under-appreciated beer.

This one pours a very dark black color, with a small head, and not much lacing.

This smells like raisin, grape, sweet maple, milk chocolate, tobacco, roast and red wine.

This is a weird combo – sweet stout aged in port and maple barrels, but it basically works. The port is extremely strong in the flavor profile, with a subtle tartness almost, with lots of dark wine flavors, chocolate, and tobacco. The maple sweetness is pretty rich, and helps cut across the heavy port character. The base stout doesn’t show itself too strongly, but it’s just sort of chocolate and caramel all the way.

This is medium bodied, silky and creamy, with no real boozines and a good drinkability.

This is pretty unique as far as Mortalis BA stouts go. I’m not sure it absolutely completely works, but it’s intriguing and I enjoyed it.

2022 version. Poured cold to a snifter. The port aroma is very bold, detectable feet away. The color is dark plum, yes plum, tone to me. While cold, the port impact is prominent over a sweet stone fruit flavor base. In one sense it’s not entirely cohesive from a “stout” perspective, but it does blend as a whole. As it warms, I’ll add notes. Alcohol has no bite, no warming, but you feel the effect.

Jan 2024 notes: The aroma is still powerful on morning. The plum notes have mellowed, lending more of a transition to black cherry. High percent dark chocolate creeps in toward the end of the linger. The overall profile has become much more cohesive. While they recommend against aging their BA stouts, this one might be an exception.

Oct 2024 notes: Last bottle. Port aroma is still massive. Flavor profile is still less prominent plum, more black cherry, and chocolate notes. Maybe a touch of maple in the back, though that could be imaginary. Still sweet, but balanced but a razor sharp alcohol slice on the finish. After a little aeration time, I’m getting some peanut butter notes in the way way back, bringing into a PB&J sandwich territory. While not my favorite BA Mortalis, and didn’t get loads of love from the locals (strangely to me, they’re anti-maple per line discussions), it’s an intriguing drink. I think it could use even more time mellowing in a fridge or on a cellar shelf to finish morphing into whatever final form it had yet to become. I upgraded scores slightly after the aging effects.