2020 Drago Hazelnut
Onion Pub & Brewery / Wild Onion Brewing Co.

 

Taste: sweet dark toasted malts, hazelnut, oak, hint of dark fruit, bourbon boozy bite. bold nutty bourbon sweet nose. Black/brown hue, mostly opaque, refined tan head small lace. Full body. Bourbon note overpower the Hazelnut.

12 ounce can into a snifter. Canned 3/17/20, had 8/5/20.

Pours near black and opaque, with a half inch quickly dissipating head and light foamy lacing. Aromas of chocolate, malt, bourbon, char, some hazelnut, some vanilla and oak, cocoa as it warms. The bourbon comes to the front in the flavor, then chocolate, malt, vanilla, some hazelnut and cocoa, some char, light oak. Smooth, a very good full body, well carbonated.

It’s Drago and it’s very good, but more hazelnut, please. Lots of chocolate, which along with the barrels drive this bus. Very enjoyable.

From can. Big foam head upon aggressive pour, but it dissipates to nothing. Deep dark brown-black appearance. Noticeable bourbon base, with hazelnut presence in both aroma and flavor without overkill. Chocolate. Roasty. Medium feel.

12oz can poured into crooked stave tulip/snifter hybrid glass.

Appearance: black bodied beer with a nearly 2inch thick cap of khaki colored head. Head dissipates into a thin ring around the glass. No booze legs and very faint lacing on the glass.

Smell: strong aroma of vanilla and marshmallows with a hint of hazelnuts. Slight octane like booze smell as well.

Taste: This stout is barrel forward; barrel notes include: bourbon, marshmallows/vanilla, & coconuts. Barrel aging has provided very expressive barrel notes that are also very smooth. The best of both worlds really. You can tell the base stout has a nice chocolate flavor about it which is borderline towards a fudgy flavor. Then the finish adds the perfect amount of hazelnut into the equation. Incredibly well balanced flavors between the barrel notes, the base stout, and the hazelnut adjunct.

Mouthfeel: medium bodied stout with low carbonation levels. Carbonation is adequate and honestly really well dialed in for the "heftiness" level of the beer. This beer drinks well below its listed 11%abv. Indefinitely... no booze. no heat, and harshness to be found in this beer. This beers flavor profile matches the mouthfeel incredibly well. I was able to drink this stout in less than 20 minutes. Dare I say an extremely session-able stout? Well it is... seriously!

Overall: Well, I have drank Drago and a few variants in the past... My impression was they were usually "solid". I picked this stout up because I have been on a hazelnut kick lately and man did this ever fuel the fire for my hazelnut kick! Easily the best Wild onion barrel aged stout that I have drank to date. I will probably be buying several more 4 packs of this beer. It's ready to drink now, no need to cellar this beer is already nearly perfect! This beer is all about big flavors that are found in the right proportions / well balanced and are matched to the exact body / texture that the beer needs to be nearly perfect. I really enjoy my thick motor oil stouts, but this beer isn't like that at all. Its about harmony and balanced and perfectly melding flavors together. The finesse side of barrel aged stouts if you will call it that.